Scouting the Avalanche

[UPDATE: Jonathan Quick led the Kings onto the ice for warmups, so he’s the starting pitcher, er, goalie.]

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Kings and the Colorado Avalanche. So far, the Avalanche have two regulation wins and one shootout win, and the Kings have scored only four goals in three games against Colorado. This is not an unfamiliar situation for the Kings, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. In late October, the Kings lost at Phoenix in overtime, then had to play the next night in Colorado and lost 3-2. The Avalanche made a move yesterday, when they acquired Steve Downie from Tampa Bay for defenseman Kyle Quincey. Downie is expected to play for the Avalanche tonight, and Semyon Varlamov is expected to start in goal. This is a big game for the Avalanche, who can either move within two points of the eighth-place Kings or fall six points behind. The Kings are also trying to hold off Calgary and Dallas, both of which are within two points. For the latest on the Avalanche, check out the coverage from The Denver Post, followed by tonight’s possible lineups for both teams…

The Denver Post’s Avalanche coverage

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KINGS LINEUP
Jordan Nolan-Anze Kopitar-Justin Williams
Dwight King-Mike Richards-Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford-Andrei Loktionov-Trevor Lewis
Brad Richardson-Jarret Stoll-Colin Fraser

Rob Scuderi-Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell-Jack Johnson
Alec Martinez-Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

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AVALANCHE LINEUP
Matt Duchene-Paul Stastny-Milan Hejduk
Gabriel Landeskog-Ryan O’Reilly-Steve Downie
Cody McLeod-Kevin Porter-Mark Olver
David Jones-Jay McClement-Chuck Kobasew

Ryan Wilson-Shane O’Brien
Jan Hejda-Ryan O’Byrne
Stefan Elliott-Erik Johnson

Semyon Varlamov
Jean-Sebastien Giguere