Samuel Girard Returns To Practice

The Colorado Avalanche practiced at Family Sports Center on Friday morning following its 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
Samuel Girard practiced with the team for the first time since he took a big hit on Oct. 23 at the Tampa Bay Lightning. Head coach Jared Bednar said after practice that Girard's availability for Saturday's contest against the Minnesota Wild will depend on how he feels after Friday's session.
"With Sam Girard, he goes through the whole practice today. I think there's a really good chance that he's going to play tomorrow," Bednar said. "But if he tightens up tomorrow morning and get stiff and can't go, then he can't go.

For a few drills, Girard skated with fellow defenseman Devon Toews who has been practicing in a regular jersey but is still in controlled contact. Towards the end of practiced, Girard dawned a burgundy jersey to run drills with the second power-play unit.
The team is targeting one of the games against the Columbus Blue Jackets for Toews to make his season debut, either on Wednesday at Ball Arena or Nov. 6 at Nationwide Arena.
Mikko Rantanen was not on the ice for practice on his 25th birthday after missing Thursday's game with a lower-body injury.
With Rantanen out, defenseman Jacob MacDonald filled the role as a forward, skating on a trio with Darren Helm and Jayson Megna. MacDonald has been a defenseman since he was 13, but since joining the Avalanche organization in 2019-20 he has played about a dozen games in a forward position.
"I think I prefer D, but honestly, I want to play games," MacDonald said following practice. "I'd rather, you know, play any position. I told them just don't play me a goalie and we're good. I want to play hockey games and as long as it's not in the net, I'm fine with that."
Bednar has a few options in regards to the lineup with a few unknowns as to which players will be available for the Division Rivalry game against Minnesota.
"I liked the way Jake played, so I will get the word on Sam, I will get the word on Mikko and we will make our decisions," said Bednar. "I don't think it's a serious injury. He came out of [the game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday and] he practiced, everything was fine, and he tightened up in the morning skate. So basically, it was a surprise to me that he wasn't going to play because I was given the indication that he was OK, but when sometimes you get on the ice, and you just feel different sometimes."
Tyson Jost was not on the ice for practice as he was given a maintenance day. Kurtis MacDermid filled into his previous spot as a wing on a line with J.T. Compher and Martin Kaut for the session.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 95 Andre Burakovsky
75 Sampo Ranta - 91 Nazem Kadri - 25 Logan O'Connor
56 Kurtis MacDermid - 37 J.T. Compher - 61 Martin Kaut
43 Darren Helm - 12 Jayson Megna - 26 Jacob MacDonald
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
3 Jack Johnson - 6 Erik Johnson
49 - Samuel Girard - 28 Ryan Murray
7 - Devon Toews
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johannsson