The Colorado Avalanche (13-12-0) begin a five-game road trip in Buffalo to take on Bowen Byram and the Sabres (11-11-2). Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT.

The last time these two teams met, Erik Johnson was making his return to Ball Arena for the first time since departing from Colorado. The next time they play, in early January, will be Byram’s return. And tonight, Avs center Casey Mittelstadt returns to the city he called home for several years to take on the team that drafted him No. 8 overall in 2017.

The Avs are mired in a bad stretch of hockey where they’ve dropped three of their last four. They most recently lost on back-to-back nights, which ended with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena on Saturday. The team is without Gabriel Landeskog, Ross Colton, Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood, Oliver Kylington, and Josh Manson. But injuries aside, the inconsistencies up and down the lineup have hurt the team all year, leading to a scenario where a loss against Buffalo would put the Avs at .500 nearly a third into the season.

To offset the injuries to the blue line, Colorado called up Keaton Middleton for the road trip but he won’t play against the Sabres. Middleton is one of the longest-tenured AHL veterans in the Avalanche organization but hasn’t played in the NHL since a three-game stint during the 2021 regular season. Head coach Jared Bednar referenced Middleton’s physicality and familiarity with the penalty kill as some of the reasons why he’s getting the call.

In goal, Alexandar Georgiev is getting the nod. Albeit the Avs, who begin a stretch of 11 games in 20 nights, will need Scott Wedgewood to play pretty often to prevent Georgiev from being overused leading up to the holidays.

Season Series

• Dec.3 at Buffalo Sabres
• Jan. 2 vs Buffalo Sabres

Avalanche Injuries

• Josh Manson (upper body, week-to-week)
• Oliver Kylington (upper body, week-to-week)
• Miles Wood (upper body, IR)
• Jonathan Drouin (upper body, week-to-week)
• Ross Colton (foot, 6-8 weeks)
• Gabriel Landeskog (knee, no timetable)

Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Nikolai Kovalenko — Casey Mittelstadt — Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta – Ivan Ivan – Logan O’Connor
Chris Wagner — Parker Kelly — Nikita Prishchepov

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski
Calvin de Haan — John Ludvig

Alexandar Georgiev
Scott Wedgewood

Projected Starters (subject to change)

• Confirmed: Alexandar Georgiev (COL)
• Confirmed: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF)

Upcoming Milestones

• Nathan MacKinnon — needs 7 assists for 600, 4 PPG for 100
• Cale Makar — needs 6 goals for 100
• Mikko Rantanen — needs 5 games for 600, 3 PPG for 100

How to Watch