Preview: Staying awake for Game 82

Here we are at Game 82 of the regular season with the postseason on the horizon in just a matter of days. The game at hand must be played even though both the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche are locked into their playoff seeding and have essentially nothing to play for. However, valuable points are on the line as Nathan MacKinnon still chases the Art Ross trophy and the franchise record in points. Another wrinkle to this game is if Colorado or Edmonton finishes with more points as they sit at 105 and 104 respectively, which might matter in a potential round three meeting, therefore there’s still intrigue in the matchup.

Colorado Avalanche

There’s not much to play for other than helping MacKinnon pad his stats but the Avalanche do need a bounce back game from the back-to-back ugly losses over the weekend. Just some recalibration and getting back to playing the right way will go a long way to being ready for Game 1 in Winnipeg. There could be some surprise scratches due to rest this evening but will have to wait to puck drop for confirmation.

Projected Lines

Jonathan Drouin (27) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)

Artturi Lehkonen (62) - Casey Mittelstadt (37) - Valeri Nichushkin (13)

Brandon Duhaime (12) - Ross Colton (20) - Miles Wood (28)

Andrew Cogliano (11) - Yakov Trenin (73) - Zach Parise (9)

Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)

Jack Johnson (3) - Josh Manson (42)

Caleb Jones (82) - Sean Walker (26)

Edmonton Oilers

As they are locked into the Pacific Division second seed Edmonton began sitting players last night in Arizona and will likely sit a few more tonight. Might be one last Hart Trophy clash if both Connor McDavid and MacKinnon are in the lineup but given the former’s recent injury he might sit this one out in his only visit to Denver this season.

Projected Lines

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) - Connor McDavid (97) - Zach Hyman (18)

Adam Henrique (37) - Leon Draisaitl (29) - Warren Foegele (37)

Holloway (55) - Ryan McLeod (71) - Connor Brown (28)

Mattias Janmark (13) - Sam Carrick (39) - Corey Perry (90)

Mattias Ekholm (14) - Evan Bouchard (2)

Vincent Desharnais (73) - Brett Kulak (27)

Phillip Broberg (86) - Troy Stecher (51)

Goaltenders

Jared Bednar hinted that Justus Annunen would get the net in this one to keep him fresh should he be needed in round one. The Oilers coming off a game last night in Arizona will surely swap out their goalies which means after Calvin Pickard got the nod last night it’s likely Stuart Skinner in the season finale.