Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Blues

The Colorado Avalanche is taking on the division rival St. Louis Blues for the second time this month, but this time on the road at Enterprise Center.
The clubs have met once previously this season with St. Louis winning 5-3 at Ball Arena on Oct. 16. Both Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon were unavailable to play in that contest but will dress this evening.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper was the first goaltender off the ice for morning skate and is expected to start against the Blues. He has guarded the pipes five times this year, most recently making 26 saves in Colorado's last outing on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Defenseman Samuel Girard will not play in tonight's game and did not travel with the team as he is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Valeri Nichushkin and goaltender Pavel Francouz also did not travel with the squad as they remain out week-to-week, however both have started skating on their own.
Devon Toews was cleared for controlled contact on Monday and has since been practicing in a normal jersey. Head coach Jared Bednar said after morning skate that he is expected to make his season debut sometime next week.
Tyson Jost is expected to play tonight and took the ice for morning skate after taking a maintenance day on Wednesday.
Mikko Rantanen left morning skate before power-play drills began and Bednar did not have an update on him after the session.
Below is Colorado's projected lineup based on the forward combinations and defensive pairings from practice on Wednesday with Tyson Jost slotted into the spot Jacob MacDonald filled for the session. They are subject to change.
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 91 Nazem Kadri - 25 Logan O'Connor
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 75 Sampo Ranta
43 Darren Helm - 12 Jayson Megna - 61 Martin Kaut
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
3 Jack Johnson - 6 Erik Johnson
56 Kurtis MacDermid - 28 Ryan Murray
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johansson
Scratch:Jacob MacDonald
Injury Report: Pavel Francouz (lower body), Stefan Matteau (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (upper body), Devon Toews (upper body), Samuel Girard (upper body)