Mike Matheson won't be playing tonight

For the past few weeks, Mike Matheson has been playing, not playing, playing, not playing…

In short, he hasn't been able to string together consecutive games.

Tonight, he won't be playing. As of this morning, we weren't sure if he was going to play.

Mike Matheson isn't on the ice for warm-ups. So he won't be playing against the Avalanche.

— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontLNH) November 14, 2026

Clearly, something is still bothering him.

It's not related to his first injury, but it could be related to his second.

But if he wasn't 100%, why play him? Because he likely wasn't 100% in the last game against the Bruins.

And before that game, he hadn't played since October 27, in St. Louis. Keep in mind that the Avalanche will also be without key players. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will miss several games. Alex Gagné (born in the U.S.) will take Makar's place and make his NHL debut.

Alex Gagné made his NHL debut at the Bell Centre tonight #GoHabsGo He's got some big skates to fill with Makar out.

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) November 14, 2026

Overtime

Adam Engstrom will take his place.

The Swede was playing very well in the assistant captain's absence, but due to circumstances, he had to give way to the veteran.

Engstrom will play alongside Arber Xhekaj. Noah Dobson will pair with Lane Hutson, and Kaiden Guhle and Alex Carrier will form the second defensive pairing.