Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Calgary Flames (7:00 p.m.)

The Calgary Flames would more than likely prefer to forget what happened the last time they met the Colorado Avalanche.

The 9-2 final score painted the picture of a blowout loss, but a closer look reveals that the Avalanche scored five goals in the first five minutes of the game, so just calling it a blowout kind of comes up short.

Well, the theme of the regular season has been the revenge game, and Calgary has a chance to follow the rule and steal one from Colorado at Ball Arena.

Can they pull off the upset, or will the Avalanche once again be too much for the team from Cowtown?

Colorado Avalanche: 51-16-10

The Opponent: Calgary Flames (32-36-9)

Time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have won the West and Central Division while still seeking the Presidents’ Trophy, but will their home-ice struggles come back to bite them yet again?

Colorado is 3-1-6 at home since returning from the Olympic break, which is kind of ironic, considering the Avalanche’s reward for regular-season success is home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Avalanche will be without Nazem Kadri, who left during the second period of Colorado’s victory over St. Louis. Just when they finally got to ice their full arsenal of forward talent.

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton — Nicolas Roy — Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Sam Malinski
Brett Kulak — Josh Manson
Nick Blankenburg — Brent Burns

MacKenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Calgary Flames

The Flames still have problems scoring; in fact, Nazem Kadri’s 41 points (while in Calgary) would still be tied for the lead on the roster.

The Flames did test the Dallas Stars their last time out but fell 4-3 in OT. This does display a capability to steal one, and after what we saw from Colorado on home ice against Vancouver on April Fools Day, anything is possible.

Projected Lineup:

Yegor Sharangovich — Mikael Backlund — Matt Coronato
Joel Farabee — Morgan Frost — Matvei Gridin
Connor Zary — Ryan Strome — Aydar Suniev
Victor Olofsson — John Beecher — Adam Klapk