Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Lightning

The Colorado Avalanche looks to finish its three-game road trip this evening against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
The two clubs have not matched up since Feb, 17, 2020, nearly a year and a half ago.
The Avs are starting to have most of their forwards available as their top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen skated on a line for the first time this season in the team's last game and are expected to do so again tonight.

Tonight's matchup will mark Ryan Murray's 400th career game. The defenseman has spent his career skating with three organizations including the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils and now Colorado.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper is expected to start against the Lightning after Jonas Johansson was between the pipes on Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
Valeri Nichushkin remains out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury. Goaltender Pavel Francouz also remains unavailable for three-to-four weeks as he is still recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in a preseason contest.
Martin Kaut will be scratched from the roster tonight and Jayson Megna will make his return as the Avs looked to mix up its other three forward lines.
Below is Colorado's projected lineup. The forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon -96 Mikko Rantanen
37 J.T. Compher - 91 Nazem Kadri - 17 Tyson Jost
75 Sampo Ranta - 11 Mikhail Maltsev - 25 Logan O'Connor
43 Darren Helm - 12 Jayson Megna - 95 Andre Burakovsky
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
3 Jack Johnson - 28 Ryan Murray
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johansson
Scratches:Martin Kaut, Kurtis MacDermid
Injury Report: Pavel Francouz (lower body), Stefan Matteau (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (upper body), Devon Toews (upper body)