Preview: Panthers at Avalanche

PANTHERS (13-13-5) at AVALANCHE (11-16-1)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-F, NHL.TV

Panthers team scope

The Florida Panthers didn't skate Friday morning after a 4-3 shootout loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. They are expected to be without forward Jonathan Marchessault (lower body) for the second straight game. He leads the Panthers with 10 goals. Forward Jaromir Jagr (1,884 NHL points) had an assist against Winnipeg to move within three points of Mark Messier (1,887) for second place on the all-time scoring list. Jagr has 1,129 assists, six behind Paul Coffey (1,135) for fifth place. At 44, Jagr is 13 days older than Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. "It is remarkable, no question," Bednar said. "It's incredible what he's able to do, especially at this age." Goalie Roberto Luongo, who made 29 saves against the Jets, needs one win to tie Terry Sawchuk (447) for fifth on the career list. But he hasn't played both ends of a back-to-back set this season, so James Reimer is expected to start. Reimer is 4-0-1 in five career games against the Avalanche with a 2.40 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. The Panthers are 0-1-1 entering the finale of a three-game road trip. They're 0-2-3 in their past five road games and 1-3-3 in their past seven overall.

Avalanche team scope

Goalie Calvin Pickard will make his second consecutive start for the Colorado Avalanche; Semyon Varlamov is recovering from a groin injury. Pickard made 38 saves in a 3-2 win against Florida on March 3 in his only previous game against the Panthers. He made 21 saves in Colorado's 4-3 home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. Colorado is 0-5-1 in its past six home games and 4-9-1 at Pepsi Center this season. "We just need to get a win here and hopefully it starts rolling," center Nathan MacKinnon said. "We need to get points here; we're in last place in the League. It's tough, it wears on you. We're not miserable or anything, we're trying to stay positive. When you're losing this much, it's never fun. Hopefully we can dominate tonight, be ready to go early." The Avalanche have been outscored 34-15 in first periods. Right wing Jarome Iginla needs one point to tie Alex Delvecchio (1,281) for 34th place all time.

Panthers projected lineup

Seth Griffith
-- Aleksander Barkov -- Jaromir Jagr
Colton Sceviour --
Vincent Trocheck
--
Reilly Smith
Jussi Jokinen
-- Nick Bjugstad --
Denis Malgin
Paul Thompson --
Derek MacKenzie
--
Shawn Thornton
Mark Pysyk
--
Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle
--
Jason Demers
Mike Matheson
--
Dylan McIlrath
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched: Jakub Kindl, Kyle Rau](https://www.nhl.com/player/kyle-rau-8476415) , Paul Thompson
Injured: Jonathan Huberdeau](https://www.nhl.com/player/jonathan-huberdeau-8476456) (lower leg), Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), Alexander Petrovic (ankle)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog --
Nathan MacKinnon
-- Rene Bourque
Mikhail Grigorenko -- Matt Duchene --
Mikko Rantanen
Blake Comeau -- John Mitchell -- Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod -- Carl Soderberg -- Andreas Martinsen
Fedor Tyutin --
Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin
-- Eric Gelinas
Nikita Zadorov --
Patrick Wiercioch
Calvin Pickard
Spencer Martin
Scratched:Cody Goloubef
Injured:Joe Colborne (lower body), Semyon Varlamov (groin)

Status report

Marchessault has played once since Dec. 3. … Varlamov faced shots for the first time Friday since he was injured Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He's scheduled to practice Saturday and travel with the Avalanche for a two-game road trip that starts Sunday in Winnipeg. He could play Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.

Who's hot

Barkov has four goals and two assists in the past six games Smith has a goal and an assist in his past two games. ... Duchene has five goals and one assist in the past five games. MacKinnon has three goals and two assists in five games.