Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0, 4 pts) at Colorado Avalanche (0-4-0, 0 pts)
Venue: Ball Arena
Date: Friday, October 18
Time: 8:00 pm MT / 7:00 pm PT
TV: ESPN + / Vict / KCOP / ALT
Radio:
Anaheim – KLAA 830 AM / Ducks Stream
Colorado – Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM / 950 AM
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Anaheim +1.5
Colorado -1.5
O/U 6.5
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Anaheim Ducks Notes:
The Ducks had a thrilling 5-4 OT victory against Utah Hockey Club in their last game, battling back from multiple deficits, and finally with a remarkable individual effort by budding superstar Leo Carlsson they finished off the win. The Ducks have some young exciting pieces to build around. The future is bright in Orange County.
Colorado Avalanche Notes:
Colorado has struggled to start the 2024-25 season, it’s the first time the Avalanche have lost four in a row to start a season since the 1998-99 season. The Avalanche are missing some key pieces in their lineup, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for how poorly they’ve played defensively. The Avalanche are last in the league in goals allowed with a stunning 25 in only 4 games, and their penalty kill is at a lowly 54.5%. The Avalanche need to commit to a much stronger effort in their defensive zone before they can turn things around.
Anaheim Ducks Projected Lineup (subject to change):
Fabbri-McTavish-Zegras
McGinn-Strome-Terry
Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
Johnston-Harkins-Leason
Fowler-Luneau
Zellweger-Gudas
Mintyukov-Dumoulin
Dostal
Reimer
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Colorado Avalanche Projected Lineup (subject to change):
Colton-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Wood-Mittelstadt-O’Connor
Kovalenko-Kelly-Ritchie
Ivan-Steinberg-Kiviranta
Kylington-Makar
Girard-Manson
De Haan-Malinski
Annunen
Georgiev
Get your Colorado Avalanche Merchandise Here:
https://shop.insidetherink.com/collections/colorado-hockey?_pos=1&_psq=colorado&_ss=e&_v=1.0
Players To Watch:
Anaheim – 20-year-old Pavel Mintyukov is a skillful offensive defenseman, he possesses a strong shot, and elite hockey IQ, is a gifted skater, and his passing and vision lead to good transition play. Mintyukov had 2 goals in the Ducks’ win over Utah, he’s already halfway to last season’s total (4) and seems on his way to surpassing it. If Mintyukov can clean up things in his defensive zone the sky is the limit for this young blueliner.
Colorado – It’s difficult to pick a player to watch for the Avalanche, they have so many talented players there is no wrong answer. But, the thing to watch for Colorado is team defense. Colorado has allowed at least five goals in every game this season. Until the defense improves, it won’t matter what the offense does, and this team will struggle to win games.
Injury Report:
Anaheim –
G John Gibson – IR – Est. return November 8
Colorado –
LW Miles Wood – Game-Time Decision
D Devon Toews – OT – Est. return October 20
LW Artturi Lehkonen – IR (Non-Roster) – Est. return October 28
LW Jonathan Drouin – OUT – Est. return October 28
RW Valeri Nichushkin – IR (Non-Roster) – Est. return November 15
LW Gabriel Landeskog – LTIR
Next game
Anaheim – October 20 vs. Los Angeles
Colorado – October 20 at San Jose
