The Colorado Avalanche will be getting back on the ice on Sunday night as they take on the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their second-round series in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Avalanche will be coming off a bit of a long layoff after sweeping the LA Kings in the first round. Meanwhile, the Wild will be looking to continue their high after beating the Dallas Stars in six games.
The Wild pulled off a gritty 5-2 win over the Stars last Thursday. The win marked the Wild’s first series win since 2015. It’s been a decade, pretty much for Minnesota fans. As such, the entire organization and fanbase are gung-ho about making it two series wins in a row.
But they’ll have to get past the deepest team in the NHL to make that happen. So, with that in mind, here’s a look at the projected forward lines for Game 1 against the Wild, as reported by Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette.
- Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Necas
- Landeskog-Nelson-Nichushkin
- Colton-Kadri-Roy
- Kelly-Drury-O’Connor
The lines look a lot more balanced with Landeskog on the second line and Colton on the third unit.
The extra forward figures to be Zakhar Bardakov, while Joel Kiviranta was not seen. Perhaps he’s dealing with something, as Daily Faceoff reports him as day-to-day. Nevertheless, that much has not been confirmed. Apparently, he’s just a healthy scratch for now.
Now, let’s look at the defense pairings:
- Toews-Makar
- Kulak-Malinski
- Burns-Blankenburg
The biggest absence is Josh Manson. It seems he’s still dealing with something. So, he’ll miss Game 1. The decision to move Kulak to the middle pairing with Malinski is a great idea. Having a shutdown guy with Malinski is a savvy move. Meanwhile, the third pairing of Burns and Blankenburg could cause major damage on Sunday night.
See, the logic here for Minnesota will be exactly like the LA Kings’. The Wild will be looking to shut down MacKinnon, Necas, and Makar in order to force the depth to step up. That’s why Kadri, Colton, and Roy could have a big night. Meanwhile, Burns and Malinski could be the D that get the major chances to wreak havoc.
That said, the least surprising decision should be in the crease. A rested Scott Wedgewood is likely to get the call with MacKenzie Blackwood backing up. The only question mark here will be if we ever get to see Blackwood in the lineup. Unless Wedgewood sustains an injury or really, really needs a break, Blackwood will be wearing the ballcap.
Game time is set for 7 pm MST at Ball Arena.
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