Gamethread, Lineups, and More: Wild vs. Avalanche (7:00 p.m.)

It’s just the third game of the season but the Minnesota Wild are already dealing with having to change their lineup, and they’re facing the Colorado Avalanche.

Mats Zuccarello got banged up a little bit in practice this morning, but before that, the plan was to scratch Marco Rossi. So, we have no clue who is and who isn’t going to be in the lineup between those two forwards, but we do at least have some semblance of a lineup.

Projected Wild lineup

Kirill Kaprizov — Tyson Jost — Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Hartman — Joel Eriksson Ek — Marcus Foligno
Matt Boldy — Sam Steel — Frederick Gaudreau
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Brandon Duhaime

Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba
Alex Goligoski — Calen Addison

Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury

Notably, Tyson Jost has taken over Ryan Hartman’s spot as the top center for tonight and Mason Shaw is set to make his season debut. In between the pipes, Filip Gustavsson is getting his first start after Marc-Andre Fleury has not played up to his potential in the first two games.

Projected Avalanche lineup

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Evan Rodrigues — Alex Newhook — Valeri Nichushkin
Andrew Cogliano — J.T. Compher — Logan O’Connor
Kurtis MacDermid — Lukas Sedlak — Ben Meyers

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Bowen Byram — Erik Johnson

Alexandar Georgiev
Pavel Francouz

As for the opposition, it’s a top-heavy forward line that is supported by one of (if not the) best bluelines in the entire league. It will be a tough stop, and hopefully the Wild can put on a typical very-good defensive performance because they will really need it. Alexandar Georgiev is expected to make the start tonight at the Xcel Energy Center.

There is a whole lot to talk about and discuss as the game goes on, so join us in the comments below!