Girard would be playing for the first time since February 2nd and is expected to skate on the third pair with Conor Timmins at even strength and on PP2. Girard has picked up one goal and eight assists (nine points) in 11 games this season.
Landeskog would be playing for the first time since February 2nd. Instead of skating in his familiar spot with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, Landeskog skated on the third line with J.T. Compher in Friday's practice.
Makar was scratched from Sunday's game in Vegas but was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate and will be a game-time decision in the rematch. It seems unlikely that he'll play but the Avalanche left the possibility open in case he's feeling good this afternoon.
Blackwood has not played a game since January 19th but was back on the ice for Monday's practice after being activated from the COVID-19 reserve list. Head coach Lindy Ruff would not say if Blackwood would start in their first game back, so monitor his status during Tuesday's morning skate.
Necas was on the ice on Friday and head coach Rod Brind'Amour said that they are "hopeful" that he will play on Saturday. Necas enjoyed a solid start to the season, scoring one goal with four assists and a plus-6 rating in eight games.
Lankinen allowed four goals on 34 shots in the Blackhawks win over the Hurricanes last Thursday. Lankinen has allowed a combined seven goals in his last two starts, moving his GAA to 2.32 with a .928 SV% through eight starts. Tonight he'll face a Stars team that has opened the season at 5-2-2 while ranking third in the NHL in Goals per game (3.67).
Kiviranta has been out since the Stars season opener on January 22nd but was back on the ice on Monday and is a game-time decision on Tuesday. Kiviranta, who had one goal and one assist before leaving the season opener, is expected to skate with Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn if he plays.
Head coach Rod Brind'Amour said that Necas is going to be "out for a little while, but I don't think it's going to be very long." It sounds like Necas will miss at least a couple of games but that the injury isn't overly serious, which is good news. Teuvo Teravainen moved up with Vincent Trocehck in Saturday's practice with Necas unavailable.
This is the first time that we've heard any sort of timetable on Francouz, who has missed the entire season to-date. It looks like Hunter Miska will continue to serve as Philipp Grubauer's backup for at least a few more weeks.
MacKinnon left Sunday's game in the third period with a lower-body injury and head coach Jared Bednar called him week-to-week on Tuesday. With MacKinnon out on Tuesday, J.T. Compher will move up between Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen and Sheldon Dries will draw into the lineup.
