Semyon Varlamov starts in goal Thursday when the Avalanche play Calgary to open a two-game road trip.
Philipp Grubauer will start Friday in Vancouver.
The
GAME NOTES.
Right wing
Mikko Rantanen, meanwhile, was named the NHL’s first star for October after scoring a league-leading 21 points in 12 games, helping the Avalanche finish the month with a 7-3-2 record.
Rantanen is the first Avalanche player to lead the league in scoring through the end of October since
Joe Sakic in 1996-97.
Rantanen, who turned 22 on Monday, had a point in each of the first nine games (as did linemate
Nathan MacKinnon) to match a Colorado record point streak from the start of a season. He had a point in every game but one, the Avalanche’s 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Oct. 24.
The third-year forward has five goals and a league-high 16 assists. He had two or more points in five games, with two four-point games. He and linemate
Gabriel Landeskog had a league-best plus-14 plus/minus figure.
Pittsburgh’s
Evgeni Malkin was named second star, Chicago’s
Patrik Kane third star.
Injured forwards
Sven Andrighetto (lower body),
J.T. Compher (head) and
Tyson Jost (head) aren’t on the trip.
The lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alexander Kerfoot -- Vladislav Kamenev -- Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
A.J. Greer -- Sheldon Dries -- Marko Dano or Gabriel Bourque
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Mark Barberio or Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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