Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Ducks

In the second half of a back-to-back set tonight, the Colorado Avalanche is expected to turn to Pavel Francouz in goal for its game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Francouz won his first two career NHL starts, stopping 78 of the 82 shots he has faced in those contests. His last game was on Oct. 19, and he made 44 saves in Colorado's 6-2 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning, which was also the team's second game in as many nights.

The Avs are coming off a 6-1 victory at the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday to improve to 8-1-1 on the season. Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a career-high three points (one goal, two assists). Matt Calvert and Nazem Kadri each scored twice while rookie Cale Makar tallied his first career regular-season goal.
Colorado did not hold a morning skate today, so its exact lineup won't be known until closer to puck drop.
Tonight's outing is the first of a three-game homestand for the Avs, who went a perfect 4-0-0 on their season-opening, four-game home stay. The last time the squad played at Pepsi Center was two weeks ago on Oct. 12 against the Arizona Coyotes. Francouz made 34-of-36 saves in the 3-2 overtime victory to earn his first win in his first NHL start.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup, with the forward combinations and defensive pairings based on how they were at the start of Friday's game at Vegas. They are subject to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 37 J.T. Compher
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
22 Colin Wilson - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 8 Cale Makar
27 Ryan Graves - 16 Nikita Zadorov
Goaltenders
39 Pavel Francouz
31 Philipp Grubauer
Healthy Scratches: Mark Barberio, Vladislav Kamenev
Injured: Mikko Rantanen (lower body)