Morning skate report: More injuries force new-look lineup

With the Avalanche finally getting some rest the last two days after another lengthy road trip, you’d think the team was actually on the upswing of the ongoing fight with good health. Instead, the loss against Tampa Bay last weekend seems to have been more than just a beating on the scoreboard.

Yesterday it was announced Vladislav Kamenev was potentially out for the season as he’s slated for shoulder surgery and today Alexander Kerfoot’s undisclosed injury is serious enough to keep him out of the lineup tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.  He’s said to be day-to-day but we’ve seen that designation turn into lengthy injury stints all too frequently the last two seasons.

The two players had become, in their own ways, important pieces in Colorado’s lineup and their absence will force some adjustments to the lineup.

Instead of trying to minimize the changes in the lineup, the Avalanche are diving right in with a different look as they shuffle around their second and fourth lines. With Kerfoot and Kamenev missing, the second line is getting a serious overhaul as they’ll be running out Sven Andrighetto next to Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher.

The trio should certainly push Edmonton’s depth lines with their combination of speed and skill. Should they find chemistry, they stand a fair chance to be an x-factor for Colorado tonight. If they struggle, it could force the Avalanche to lean even more heavily on the Carl Soderberg-led third line, a potential matchup nightmare for the Avalanche against one of Edmonton’s top two lines.

The Oilers are obviously scariest at the top with Connor McDavid but you expect head coach Jared Bednar to try and match heavyweights with his three-headed monster top line marking the McDavid-Leon Draisaitl wannabe monster.

Colorado’s new-look fourth line sees recent recall A.J. Greer slotting onto a line centered by Colin Wilson, who drops from the right wing spot on the second line to play the middle-man on a line that could best be described as an island of misfit toys. Gabriel Bourque is set to be the third man on that unit, giving the group a heavier feel as each guy can play a physical game and likes to mix it up with the body.

The real question with that group is how much ice time they’ll see as Greer’s dominant AHL performance so far would suggest he’s ready to take on meaningful minutes but the hodgepodge nature of the group suggests we won’t see them on the ice very often. Wilson is part of the top power-play unit and Bourque is one of Colorado’s most frequently used forwards on the penalty kill so it’s fair to expect both to see more significant minutes than Greer, which will be all the more frustrating if they aren’t able to accomplish anything as a group.

Regardless of the line configuration, the Avalanche will be facing white-hot goaltender Mikko Koskinen, who has two shutouts in his last five appearances. The 30-year-old Finn joined the Oilers after a strong performance in the KHL last season and has given the Oilers a major lift at a position that has been disappointingly unstable with the uneven work put in from presumed starter Cam Talbot.

In their previous game in November, a 4-1 win by the Avalanche, Talbot got the start but was pulled after giving up three goals on 15 shots. Koskinen came in to relieve him and gave up one goal on 13 shots.

In the Colorado net, Semyon Varlamov is back in the net despite giving up 11 goals in his last two starts.

Expected lineup

Landeskog MacKinnon Rantanen
Jost Compher Andrighetto
Nieto Soderberg Calvert
Greer Wilson Bourque

Girard Johnson
Cole Barrie
Nemeth Zadorov

Varlamov