Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Wild

Samuel Girard participated in the Colorado Avalanche's optional morning skate today and will play in tonight's matchup against the Minnesota Wild.
"I mean, it's always fun to be back," said Girard. "You know, I took care of my injury, so I'm back at 100 percent right now. I'm excited to be back on the ice tonight.
The two clubs met twice during the preseason, however this evening's outing will be the first of four meetings between the clubs this season.

Head coach Jared Bednar noted Girard will be on a pairing with Erik Johnson while Jack Johnson will be on a duo with Ryan Murray. The pairing of Bowen Byram and Cale Makar will stay the same.
Mikko Rantanen remains unavailable with a lower-body injury and will most likely not play against the Wild as he is still out day to day.
Defenseman Devon Toews has been approved for controlled contact and is looking to make his season debut sometime next week, but he will not be suited up tonight.
Netminder Darcy Kuemper will get the start against the Blues. Kuemper has started in six of the Avs' seven matchups this year.
Below is Colorado's projected lineup with the forward combinations from Thursday's game at the St. Louis Blues. The lines and defensive pairings are expected to change.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 95 Andre Burakovsky
75 Sampo Ranta - 91 Nazem Kadri - 25 Logan O'Connor
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 61 Martin Kaut
43 Darren Helm - 12 Jayson Megna - 26 Jacob MacDonald
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
3 Jack Johnson - 28 Ryan Murray
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johannsson
Scratch:Kurtis MacDermid
Injury Report: Mikko Rantanen (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Stefan Matteau (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (upper body), Devon Toews (upper body)