Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Panthers

Gabriel Landeskog will play in tonight's matchup against the Florida Panthers after finishing his two-game suspension. He is expected to skate on the Colorado Avalanche's top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
The Avalanche will play its second of a three-game road trip against the Panthers this evening at FLA Live Arena. It is the first time these two teams have matched up since Oct. 30, 2019, in Denver.
With MacKinnon and Landeskog back in the lineup, tonight's contest is the first game with the entire Avalanche top line skating this year.

Jonas Johansson was the first goaltender off the ice from morning skate and is expected to make his season debut and start this evening.
It is Johansson's first start of the year after Darcy Kuemper was in net for Colorado's first three games. Johansson finished the 2020-21 season with the Avs and posted a 5-1-1 record with a 2.06 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in eight appearances with the club.
Valeri Nichushkin remains unavailable as he is still out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He and goaltender Pavel Francouz did not join the time on the three-game road trip as Francouz is recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in the preseason contest against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 5.
Devon Toews took the ice during morning skate sporting a non-contact participant jersey as he is hoping to be cleared and make his season debut soon.
After using 11 forwards and seven defenseman against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, the Avalanche will go back to 12 forwards and six defensemen with Jayson Megna and Kurtis MacDermid being scratched.
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
11 Mikhail Maltsev - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
61 Martin Kaut - 37 J.T. Compher - 75 Sampo Ranta
43 Darren Helm - 17 Tyson Jost - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 8 Cale Makar
4 Bowen Byram - 6 Erik Johnson
3 Jack Johnson - 28 Ryan Murray
Goaltenders
31 Jonas Johansson
35 Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Kurtis MacDermid, Jayson Megna
Injury Report: Pavel Francouz (lower body), Stefan Matteau (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (upper body), Devon Toews (upper body)