Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Wild
Tyson Jost is getting closer to returning from his injury
by Ron Knabenbauer @RonKnab / ColoradoAvalanche.com
ST. PAUL, Minn.--Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will make his second consecutive start in net this evening as the Colorado Avalanche wraps up a five-game road trip at the Minnesota Wild.
Grubauer missed five contests with a lower-body injury before returning to the lineup for Tuesday's game at the Calgary Flames. He stopped 31 of 33 shots in a 3-2 victory, his first since making 25 saves on Oct. 25 at the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fellow keeper Pavel Francouz will backup Grubauer for the second straight night after being cleared following a concussion on Nov. 12 at the Winnipeg Jets. Head coach Jared Bednar said he won't make any changes to his lineup from how it was in Calgary.
Tyson Jost will miss his third game of the season with an upper-body injury, but he is making progress after getting hurt last Thursday at the Edmonton Oilers. Jost took morning skate and Bednar said the forward could return soon.
Mark Barberio and A.J. Greer are expected to be Colorado's healthy scratches. Matt Calvert (head), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (lower body) and Colin Wilson (lower body) all remain in Denver recovering from their injuries.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup for tonight's game at the Wild. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 91 Nazem Kadri - 37 J.T. Compher
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 12 Jayson Megna
36 T.J. Tynan - 81 Vladislav Kamenev - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz
Healthy Scratches: Mark Barberio, A.J. Greer
Injuries Report: Matt Calvert (head), Tyson Jost (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (lower body), Colin Wilson (lower body)