Colorado Avalanche (6-1-4) at Vegas Golden Knights (6-1-3)
Game Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: SCRIPPS, ALT, SN1
Avalanche Projected Lineup
Forwards
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Ross Colton — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Gabriel Landeskog — Jack Drury — Victor Olofsson
Parker Kelly — Zakhar Bardakov — Gavin Brindley
Defensemen
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Ilya Solovyovn — Sam Malinski
Goaltenders
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: Jack Ahcan, Trent Miner
Injured: Samuel Girard (upper body), Joel Kiviranta (lower body), Logan O’Connor (hip surgery)
Golden Knights Projected Lineup
Forwards
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Alexander Holtz
Brandon Saad — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Pavel Dorofeyev — Tomas Hertl — Mitch Marner
Cole Reinhardt — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Ben Hutton — Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon — Kaedan Korczak
Goaltenders
Akira Schmid
Carl Lindblom
Scratched: None
Injured: Noah Hanifin (undisclosed), Adin Hill (lower body), Colton Sissons (undisclosed), Mark Stone (upper body)
Status Report
The Golden Knights are shuffling their forward lines, elevating Alexander Holtz to the top line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. Consequently, Brandon Saad will move to the second line on William Karlsson’s left wing.
For the Avalanche, defenseman Samuel Girard and forward Logan O’Connor have joined the team for its two-game road trip but will not be in the lineup Friday. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to make his first start of the season either Friday against Vegas or Saturday in San Jose.
Vegas forward Colton Sissons will miss his second straight game due to injury. Defenseman Noah Hanifin is back on the ice skating but will remain sidelined for his 10th consecutive game. On Wednesday, the Golden Knights also reassigned defenseman Jaycob Megna to their AHL affiliate in Henderson.
