Colorado Avalanche Look to Finish Homestand with a Bang

The Colorado Avalanche finish their four-game homestand by hosting the Arizona Coyotes. This game  could set the stage for their long road trip.

The Colorado Avalanche started their homestand with a bang, a win over the Calgary Flames. Now, they’re about to embark on the longest road trip of the season — six games (including a back-to-back) over the course of two weeks. Oh, and they finish with a back-to-back that starts in Vegas and ends here.

Good times.

However, before they go on the roadie to end all roadies, they need to focus on tonight’s game. They’re hosting the Arizona Coyotes.

Normally, I’d about the Desert Dogs. However, they made some legit moves — not just cap floor moves — in the offseason. What’s more, they challenged Colorado until Game 81 for that final wild card spot last season.

The Avalanche need to take the Coyotes seriously.

The Colorado Avalanche are currently undefeated, which we know can’t stand. However, it’d be great to finish the homestand undefeated. The Coyotes are coming off a 4-1 win over the Vegas Knights.

All-time, Colorado is 47-29-6-4 (ties) over the Coyotes. Last season, they went 2-1-0 over Arizona, taking the third game in the shootout.

So, let’s look at some storylines for this game.

Revolving Second Line

The first line is as set as it was last season. And, despite off-season acquisitions to cement the second line, it’s a revolving door.

The second line started as I personally expected and as I believe was the vision in the off season — Nazem Kadri centering Tyson Jost and Andre Burakovsky. Kadri has been the only constant as Burakovsky was replaced with Joonas Donskoi in the second game.

In the third game, JT Compher sat out with a slight injury, so Tyson Jost dropped to third-line center to see Andre Burakovsky jump back up the the second line.

Now, in practice yesterday, the second line saw the return of Compher — who’s a game-time decision for today — with Jost centering Matt Nieto and Valeri Nichushkin.

Who plays on tonight’s second line is anyone’s guess, though I imagine Kadri will stay the constant.

Return of Big Ol’ Carl

In the offseason, the Colorado Avalanche traded Carl Soderberg (34 years old) for defenseman Kevin Connauton (29 years old) and a third-rounder. At the time of writing, Connauton, despite his youth, had yet to make his regular-season debut. Indeed, he did a stint down with the Colorado Eagles.

Meanwhile Soderberg, while not exactly tearing it up with the Coyotes, has appeared in all three of their regular season contests. He’s recorded two assists in that time.

Tonight, he returns to his former team. We all know the Curse of the Avalanche, that former players always score on us. Hopefully that doesn’t follow through with Big Ol’ Carl.

Pavel Francouz’ Debut

At the time of writing, the starting goalie for tonight hadn’t been definitively announced. However, Jared Bednar had hinted pretty strongly in his post-practice presser that rookie Pavel Francouz would get the start. Bednar said:

"“He’s had some time off for a little bit, so (there have been) conversations as far as when we’re starting him…We’ve got a lot of back-to-backs coming up and I don’t really want him sitting around for three weeks before he plays a game on the road.”"

I’m excited — and, admittedly, a little nervous — to see the debut of Francouz. He was great in the limited NHL time he’s had so far — being a replacement for Grubauer. And the fourth game of a four-game homestand, in which your team has already won three games, seems like an apt time to give the rookie his first NHL start.

Hey, everyone’s got to start somewhere, right?

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: Oct. 12, 7:00 pm MT
TV: ALT*, FS-A, FS-A PLUS (Coyote’s feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5/AM 950)

*The Big 3 carriers have colluded to block Altitude TV from being broadcast in the Denver Metro area.