Avalanche Face Major Challenge as Senators Get Star Goalie Back
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Coming off an impressive 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs to start their road trip, the Colorado Avalanche look to get their road record back to .500 as they take on the Ottawa Senators for the first time this season.
With a 4-5-0 record on the road, it's been a struggle, especially with how they played in those games compared to how they look and perform at home. They have a 7-1-2 record at Ball Arena. This can be said for the Senators, with a 6-2-1 record at home and a 5-4-1 record on the road.
These two teams last faced off against each other last season on January 28, which saw the Senators win 5-2, scoring three goals in the third period to close out the game. Despite the loss, the Avalanche had a seven-game winning streak against the Senators before heading into that game.
Goaltending to Be the Main Storyline Tonight
In net for the Senators, it will be Linus Ullmark, who will make his return for the first time since being injured on October 21 against the Florida Panthers, where he did manage to pick up the win before leaving the game hurt with a lower-body injury.
Before getting hurt, Ullmark was playing one of the best goalies in the league. With a 7-1-0 record, paired with a .945 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average. It will be interesting to see how he faces off against the Avalanche's high-powered offense in his first game back and if he can re-find that form for the Senators, who have struggled with Samuel Ersson in net.
For the Avalanche, it will be Scott Wedgewood, who is set to make his sixth start this season and looks to break a current 0-3-0 streak he is on. Granted, in all of those games, the Avalanche did not play well in front of him; Wedgewood didn’t play very well either and made a lot of mistakes.
Though in his career, Wedgewood does boast a 5-1-0 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average against the Senators, it hasn't been like that to entice high hopes.
With a 1-3-1 record and a .867 save percentage paired with a 4.02 goals-against average, the Avalanche hope Wedgwood can turn things around with tonight's start, or the Avs might have a goaltending predicament in their hands if this continues.
Projected Avalanche Lines (Subject to Change)
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Nazem Kadri — Nicolas Roy
Jaden Schwartz — Brock Nelson — T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly — Fedor Svechkov — Logan O’Connor
Brett Kulak — Cale Makar
Devon Toews — Sam Malinski
Noah Juulsen — Brent Burns
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Projected Starters (Subject to Change)
- Expected: Scott Wedgewood (COL)
- Confirmed: Linus Ullmark (OTT)
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Stefano Rubino is a sports journalist based outside Toronto, Canada, and a hockey writer covering multiple teams for The Hockey News, as well as the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings for Sports Illustrated. When he is not watching last night's highlights or minor league games, or writing game notes, you can find him listening to music while he works out or playing video games.