Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Wild (March 18, 2021)

The Colorado Avalanche will insert some healthy bodies into its lineup this evening as the team takes on the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena.
Defensemen Bowen Byram and Cale Makar will return to action tonight after missing nine and 10 games, respectively, with upper-body injuries. Both previously suited up in the squad's back-to-back contests last month in Arizona, with Makar having last played on Feb. 26 and Byram on Feb. 27.

Coming out of the lineup will be Greg Pateryn and Dan Renouf, with the latter blueliner passing through waivers earlier in the day.
Forward J.T. Compher (upper body) has also been cleared medically, but he won't play tonight as head coach Jared Bednar noted he wanted to get the center some more conditioning time. Compher last played on March 5 versus the Anaheim Ducks and is expected to suit up for Saturday afternoon's contest against the Wild.
Samuel Girard didn't take part in morning skate, but the defenseman will play this evening. Bednar just wanted to give him some extra rest, similar to what he did for goalie Philipp Grubauer at Tuesday's pregame practice, as Girard is averaging 26:03 of ice time through nine games in the month of March--fifth most in the league.
Grubauer is expected to start in net after making all 15 saves in relief and earning the win on Tuesday versus the Anaheim Ducks. He has won four straight decisions and is 7-2-0 in his last nine games.
Tonight's contest versus the Wild is the first of a two-game set at Ball Arena and the fifth of eight matchups this season between the clubs. Both clubs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 outings, with the Wild (37) currently one point ahead of the Avs (36) in the standings
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup based on the team's 8-4 win on Tuesday against the Ducks. Bednar did not give combinations this morning, so the exact lineup and the defensive pairings won't be known until closer to game time.
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
11 Matt Calvert - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 49 Samuel Girard
27 Ryan Graves - 34 Jacob MacDonald
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
32 Hunter Miska
Scratches: J.T. Compher, Greg Pateryn, Dan Renouf
Taxi Squad: Kyle Burroughs, Peyton Jones, Jayson Megna, Kiefer Sherwood
Injury Report: Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Conor Timmins (upper body)