Preview: Second City Showdown

With two of five games in a seven day stretch now behind them, it’s safe to assume that the Colorado Avalanche were looking forward to the weekend.

This afternoon, the visiting Chicago Blackhawks will make their only regular season appearance in Denver, as the Avs face their third consecutive Central Division opponent in four days.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche currently sport a .500 record for the month of February, going 2-2 in that time frame. This would sound a lot more alarming if it weren’t for the extended Olympic pause that led to playing only four games through the month. A victory today would keep them from posting their second consecutive sub-500 month of hockey, and would certainly provide a lift after losing 5-2 to the visiting Minnesota Wild this past Thursday. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 of 34 shots in a contest that featured an impressive goalie duel between him and Filip Gustavsson—who stopped 45 of 47 shots in his own right—only to be overshadowed by questionable judgement (see Brent Burns launching the puck into the crowd during an Avalanche penalty kill that was already down not one, but two skaters) and officiating (poke checks are penalties now?).

Coach Jared Bednar lamented his team’s inability to widen the gap on both Minnesota and the idle Dallas Stars. “It’s the standings at the end of the year is what matters, right? So, that [game] was a missed opportunity; that’s what that was. Nine points if we win, two games in hand, that’s a long road to try and catch you, and now it’s tight. Five [points] with two [games] in hand, and there’s lots of hockey to be played. We’ve just got to take care of our business.”

The loss allowed Minnesota—playing in a first game of a back to back pair of their own—to leapfrog over Dallas to second place in the Central Division, closing to within five points of the Avs. However, just like the Avs, Minnesota failed to seize the moment in their second half of back to back games, as they lost to the Utah Mammoth by a score of 5-2 at Delta Center on Friday evening. The loss prevented them from closing to within three points of the Avalanche, who can now restore their seven point cushion with a win this afternoon.

Hockey giveth, and hockey taketh away.

Nathan MacKinnon returned to the lineup against Minnesota for the first time since returning from the Olympics, and while he did not add to his NHL goal scoring total—he remains at a League best 40 goals—he did reach the 95 point plateau (Edmonton’s Connor McDavid leads all skaters with 100 points). Martin Nečas, who scored his 24th and 25th goals of the season on Thursday evening, trails Brock Nelson (30) for third place in team scoring, and is three goals shy of tying his career high (28). While the loss to Minnesota may look lopsided by box score alone, Blackwood’s play to keep his team close for the majority of the contest ought to merit a return to the crease today.

The Avs still remain the undisputed leader across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings. Coming into this afternoon’s game, they have a game in hand on Dallas (who will be in action at American Airlines Center tonight against the Nashville Predators), and three games in hand on Minnesota.

Today’s game is the second in the three game series with Chicago. The Avs won the previous matchup on November 23, a 1-0 decision.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Gabe Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Artturi Lehkonen – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Victor Olofsson
Joel Kiviranta* – Parker Kelly – Gavin Brindley

Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski

Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Kiviranta, who was injured during the second period after taking a hit from Minnesota’s Zach Bogosian, is uncertain for today’s game at the time of this writing.

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago had a great start to 2026, winning five of their first six games in January. However, they followed up that effort by losing nine of their next twelve games prior to the Olympic break. Currently occupying seventh place in the Central Division standings with 53 points, they remain two points ahead of last place St. Louis (51). They kicked off a five game road trip prior to the Olympics, with their most recent effort being a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday evening.

Like Colorado, Chicago also representation in Italy at the Olympics, but to a significantly smaller scale. Center Teuvo Teravainen won the bronze medal alongside Kiviranta as a member of Finland’s roster. The notable absence is center Connor Bedard, who was not invited to participate as a member of Canada’s Olympic roster. Bedard, who scored his twenty-fourth goal of the season against Nashville on Thursday night, currently leads all Chicago skaters in assists (30) and points (54), and ranks second to left wing Tyler Bertuzzi in goals (26).

While Bedard’s solid sophomore campaign led many to believe that he was on the short list to be selected to the Olympics by Hockey Canada, he was ultimately left off the roster once the final selections were announced. Bedard missed twelve games with an upper body injury sustained in a literal last second face-off sequence against St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn back in December, leading many to speculate if the injury was a key factor in leaving Bedard off the Canadian Olympic roster.

Goaltender Spencer Knight is three wins away from tying his career high (19) in his first full season with Chicago. He will likely start today against Colorado. Despite leading all Chicago goaltenders in wins (Arvid Soderblom has five wins on the season and Drew Commesso has one), Chicago has given up more than two goals in fourteen of ninteen games played in since the start of the New Year. That has contributed to the third worst goal differential (-33) in the NHL; only St. Louis (-52) and Vancouver (-62) rank lower.

Today’s match-up against Colorado marks their only regular season visit to Denver, and marks the first game of a back to back weekend. They will finish the weekend in—where else?—Salt Lake City against the Mammoth on Sunday afternoon. The season series against Colorado will conclude on home ice at United Center on March 20.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Ryan Greene – Connor Bedard – Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore – Frank Nazar – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ryan Donato – Jason Dickinson – Ilya Mikheyev
Teuvo Teravainen – Nick Foligno – Landon Slaggert

Defense:
Alex Vlasic – Louis Crevier
Connor Murphy – Sam Rinzel
Matt Grzelcyk – Artyom Levshunov

Between the Pipes:
Spencer Knight
Arvid Söderblom