Colorado Avalanche News

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.

Helm was hurt midway through Thursday's game in Nashville and will not be available for Saturday's rematch. With Helm out, Valtteri Filppula will likely draw back into the lineup.

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.

Poolman has been out since the season opener due to COVID-19 protocol but will dress as the seventh defenseman on Thursday. Poolman will replace Kristian Vesalainen.

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.

Johnson has been sidelined since last Saturday after getting hurt on a hit from Jordan Greenway. Head coach Jared Bednar announced that he'll miss at least a couple of weeks on Tuesday, so look for Conor Timmins to play a more prominent role while Johnson is sidelined.

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.

Coyle was banged up on Saturday and missed Sunday's practice but head coach Bruce Cassidy expects him to be available for Monday's rematch. Coyle has two goals and two assists (four points) in eight games this season.