Game 3 Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Flames

Newly-signed defenseman Cale Makar will make his debut with the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Game 3 of the club's first-round series against the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Makar was drafted by Colorado with the fourth overall selection in 2017 and has spent the last two seasons in the NCAA with the University of Massachusetts Minutemen. He ranked first among all NCAA blueliners in scoring this campaign after recording 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 41 games with UMass.

The Calgary, Alberta, native helped the school to the national championship game on Saturday night, one day after he was named the winner of the Hobey Baker Award which is given to college hockey's top player.
Makar replaces Samuel Girard in the lineup, as Girard will miss the outing with an upper-body injury and will start the matchup on a defensive pairing with Patrik Nemeth.
Philipp Grubauer will be between the pipes for the Avs. He has started each of the first two contests in the series and is coming off a 35-save performance in Game 2 on Saturday.
The best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1 after Calgary picked up a 4-0 win in Game 1 and Colorado earned a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 2.
Below is the Avalanche's projected lineup. All forward combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 13 Alexander Kerfoot
22 Colin Wilson - 34 Carl Soderberg - 96 Mikko Rantanen
83 Matt Nieto - 18 Derick Brassard - 11 Matt Calvert
57 Gabriel Bourque - 17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher

Defensemen

28 Ian Cole - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 4 Tyson Barrie
12 Patrik Nemeth - 8 Cale Makar

Goaltenders

31 Philipp Grubauer
1 Semyon Varlamov
Healthy Scratches: 10 Sven Andrighetto, 27 Ryan Graves, 44 Mark Barberio
Injury Report: 49 Samuel Girard (upper body), 91 Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)