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Preview: Avs test the streak against struggling Oilers

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The Colorado Avalanche are once again riding a five-game winning streak after beating both the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild via shootout last week, and they’ll look to make it six straight against an Edmonton Oilers team that simply can’t seem to keep the puck out of their own net.

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Edmonton’s defensive issues — both in their own zone and between the pipes — have been a constant problem lately, resulting in a 4–6 record over their last ten games. It’s a frustrating stretch for a team that can score with anyone in the league, but one that continues to give just as much back the other way.

Meanwhile, Colorado continues to do what contenders do this time of year: stack wins.

Colorado Avalanche: 43-10-9

The Opponent: Edmonton Oilers (31-25-8)

Time: 8:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche welcomed the return of Nazem Kadri the last time they were on home ice and were able to secure the victory despite not having Artturi Lehkonen or Gabe Landeskog in the lineup. Colorado has managed to stay afloat through the injuries thanks to its depth and elite top end — the club still sits among the league leaders in scoring while MacKinnon remains near the top of the NHL scoring race.

Landeskog’s injury has been covered at length due to its occurrence in a uniquely “uncomfortable” region of the body, but it still came as a surprise on game day. He was given the week-to-week distinction, but Landeskog has proven that nothing can keep him from playing hockey for long. Here he is at morning skate:

Lehkonen, on the other hand, has a bit of mystery surrounding his status. What was originally suspected to be an injury from wearing a puck up high has now shifted to speculation about other parts of the upper body. I’m sure we will get a Lehky update, either pre- or postgame, as most are eager to see what this Avalanche squad looks like when fully healthy.

Projected Lineup:

Martin Necas — Nathan MacKinnon — Nazem Kadri
Ross Colto — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Parker Kelly — Nicolas Roy — Gavin Brindley
Zakhar Bardakov — Jack Drury — Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Brett Kulak — Sam Malinski

Note: Both Landeskog and Lehkonen are listed as OUT as of right now.

MacKenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton’s struggles are pretty obvious, but it feels like every effort management makes to settle the issue just reaggravates the ineptitude.

Acquiring the services of Tristan Jarry hasn’t stemmed the goals-against tide. In fact, the Oilers continue to give up more than 3 goals per game, placing them in the bottom third of the league defensively.

Whenever you employ Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, scoring goals shouldn’t be an issue — and it hasn’t been. Edmonton sits among the NHL’s highest-scoring teams and boasts the league’s most dangerous power play, converting on more than 32.8 percent of its opportunities. That offensive firepower hasn’t consistently translated to wins because the defensive commitment simply hasn’t been there on a nightly basis.

If Colorado can force Edmonton to play in its own end — something the Avalanche have done well during this current winning streak — the matchup could once again turn into a track meet. And while that might be Edmonton’s comfort zone offensively, it’s also exactly where their defensive problems tend to show up the most.

Projected Lineup:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Jack Roslovic
Matthew Savoie — Jason Dickinson — Kasperi Kapanen
Colton Dach — Josh Samanski — Trent Frederic

Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Jake Walman — Connor Murphy
Darnell Nurse — Ty Emberson

Connor Ingram
Trysten Jarry

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