The Avalanche close out their five-game road trip in Ottawa on Wednesday trying to win their second game in a row for the first time since Nov. 27-28 against Nashville and Pittsburgh.
The
GAME NOTES.
The Avalanche went 1-3-0 in the first four games of the trip and are 2-7-2 in the past 11 games.
Coach
Jared Bednar said after the morning skate that he will use the same lineup he did Monday in the 6-3 win in Toronto, so
Carl Soderberg will center the second line again with
Colin Wilson and
J.T. Compher. Soderberg had a hat trick, the first of his career, against the Maple Leafs.
Semyon Varlamov was the first goalie off the ice and is expected to make his fourth consecutive start.
Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves Oct. 26 when the Avalanche defeated the Senators 6-3 at the Pepsi Center.
Former Avalanche center
Matt Duchene, who had two goals in that game, will play after missing three games to be with his wife,
Ashley, who gave birth to the couple’s first child,
Beau David Newell Duchene.
Duchene, who turns 28 Wednesday, is Ottawa’s second-leading scorer with 42 points (18 goals, 24 assists) in 37 games.
Mark Stone leads the team with 20 goals and 48 points in 46 games.
Senators defenseman
Thomas Chabot (10-28-38) returns after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.
The projected lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Colin Wilson – Carl Soderberg – J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto – Alexander Kerfoot – Matt Calvert
Tyson Jost -- Sheldon Dries – Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov – Mark Barberio
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer