The injury-riddled Avalanche will be severely tested on a five-game road trip that starts Tuesday in Winnipeg.
GAME NOTES
They’ll be without six regulars, at least from the start, though goalie
Philipp Grubauer (lower-body injury) and center
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (concussion protocol) are on the trip.
Forwards
Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and
Colin Wilson, all out with lower-body injuries, and defenseman
Nikita Zadorov (broken jaw) remain in Colorado. Rantanen, who’s missed eight games, skated Monday and Zadorov practiced while wearing a protective shield after having surgery Friday night.
The Avalanche have had to do more line shuffling without Bellemare, who was injured Saturday against Columbus on an elbow to the jaw by
Nick Foligno, who was assessed a three-game suspension by
NHL Player Safety.
Valeri Nichushkin will move to the second line with
Nazem Kadri and
J.T. Compher. Tyson Jost will switch from second-line left wing to third-line center with
Matt Nieto and
Andre Burakovsky.
Jayson Megna, a healthy scratch Saturday following his recall from the Colorado Eagles, will be on the fourth line with
Vladislav Kamenev and
T.J. Tynan.
Defenseman
Kevin Connauton and forward
Logan O'Connor hadn’t yet arrived in Winnipeg after being recalled from the Eagles.
Pavel Francouz will make his third start in a row after making 39 saves in the Avalanche’s 4-2 win against Columbus.
The lineup:
FORWARDS
Matt Calvert -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Joonas Donskoi
Valeri Nichushkin -– Nazem Kadri -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -– Tyson Jost – Andre Burakovsky
Jayson Megna -- Vladislav Kamenev -- T.J. Tynan
DEFENSE
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar
Ian Cole -- Mark Barberio
GOALIES
Pavel Francouz
Adam Werner
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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