Game Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Seattle Kraken (6:30 p.m.)

The Colorado Avalanche continue their road trip with a showdown with the newly formed Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Colorado and Utah meet for their first showdown of the regular season, but this Utah team is familiar with the Avalanche. A yeti will rise from the ashes of the Arizona Coyotes? Not for me.

Colorado avalanche

Hey, this Avalanche game is available in the local market via 9NEWS and Altitude+, so for those waiting for another viewing option, here it is I guess. I'm a little disappointed with the Altitude+ product, but I'll save that for another article.
The Avalanche should feel pretty good about moving into a new barn after picking up wins in their last three games. If the Avalanche can win a fourth straight just like that, they'll be back at .500 despite losing the first four games of the season. Not too shabby.

Speaking of not too shabby, young Sam Malinsi was noticeably comfortable with the puck and made it clear (at least to me) that he should be a mainstay in the NHL this season. Check out this nifty stat I dug up yesterday!

Cal Ritchie, on the other hand, recorded a downward trend in most measurable values ​​over the course of his first NHL appearance. Yesterday, he was “delegated back to the OHL” by the Colorado Avalanche after playing seven games in the majors. Jackie Kay gave a great look at Ritchie's development at the Mile High Hockey Lab this week, mentioning that it would be a good fit for Ritchie to compete in the World Juniors. That's almost a given now that he's back in the O.

Planned lineup

Ross Colton – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Nikolai Kovalenko – Casey Mittelstadt – Logan O'Connor
Miles Wood – Parker Kelly – Joel Kiviranta
Ivan Ivan – Matt Steinburg – Chris Wagner

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Sam Girard-Josh Manson
Calvin de Haan – Sam Malinski

Utah Hockey Club

The hockey club has come out of the gates with good success, and it looks like a new change of scenery and a little more investment from the owners was exactly what this group needed. Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and others are long-time Coyotes and that chemistry is still there despite the clothing change.

Young Dylan Guenther appears to be showing that a more modern approach to development sometimes works, leading Vancouver fans to view their management with some suspicion. It wouldn't surprise me if this kid scored 30 goals this season as he has already scored five goals in seven games.

Planned lineup

Clayton Keller — Barrett Hayton — Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain — Logan Cooley — Dylan Gunther
Lawson Crouse — Alex Kerfoot — Josh Doan
Matias Maccelli — Kevin Stenlund — Kailer Yamamoto

Mikhail Sergachev — Michael Kesselring
Ian Cole — Juuso Valimaki
Vladislav Kolyachonok — Robert Bortuzzo

goalkeeper

It remains to be seen who will net for the Avalanche, but I know who will get my vote! Justus Annunen has done more than enough to earn another start and honestly, if not him, I'd rather see what Kahkonen has in him tonight. No offense to Georgiev, but Annunen looked more confident and positional, and we'll have to find out what the Avalanche have in Kaapo Kahkonen.

Karel Vejmelka is Utah's unconfirmed starter. Vajmelka has allowed 17 goals in his five starts against the Colorado Avalanche and has a GAA of 3.17.

Please don’t forget to check out the latest Mile High Hockey Lab edition on your favorite podcast platform!