Avalanche at Sharks

AVALANCHE (40-13-5) at SHARKS (26-26-8)

Avalanche projected lineup

Valeri Nichushkin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky -- Nazem Kadri -- Logan O'Connor
Alex Newhook -- Nico Sturm -- J.T. Compher
Kurtis MacDermid -- Darren Helm -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Ryan Murray -- Josh Manson
Jack Johnson -- Erik Johnson
Pavel Francouz
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Bowen Byram
Injured: Samuel Girard (lower body), Gabriel Landeskog (knee surgery)
Sharks projected lineup
Alexander Barabanov -- Tomas Hertl -- John Leonard
Jonathan Dahlen -- Logan Couture -- Timo Meier
Andrew Cogliano -- Nick Bonino -- Matt Nieto
Rudolfs Balcers -- Scott Reedy -- Noah Gregor
Jake Middleton -- Brent Burns
Erik Karlsson -- Jaycob Megna
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Nicolas Meloche
Zach Sawchenko
James Reimer
Scratched: Jonah Gadjovich, Jeffrey Viel
Injured: Adin Hill (lower body), Radim Simek (undisclosed), Mario Ferraro (lower body), Kevin Labanc (upper body)
Status report
Sturm will make his Avalanche debut after being acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. ... Francouz will start after Kuemper started the previous four games. ... The Sharks did not hold a morning skate Friday following a 3-0 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. ... Sawchenko is projected to start after Reimer made 24 saves against the Kings.