Sabres boosted by Girgensons return vs. Avalanche

AVALANCHE (29-25-4) at SABRES (22-28-6)
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET; ALT, BELL TV, MSG-B, NHL.TV
BUFFALO - The Buffalo Sabres will have forward Zemgus Girgensons back in the lineup against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
Girgensons missed the past three games with a lower-body injury. Girgensons was playing on a line with Jack Eichel before he sustained his injury, but he'll be back at center against Colorado.

"He'll be mostly at center tonight," coach Dan Bylsma said. "Maybe in short bursts around the TV timeouts we'll get him up on wing."
The Sabres sent Philip Varone to Rochester of the American Hockey League on Saturday to make room for Girgensons on the roster. Girgensons has five goals and six assists in 45 games this season.
Defenseman Mark Pysyk will also return to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch for the 6-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. It is expected he'll replace Carlo Colaiacovo.
"We had two rough games," Bylsma said of the 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and the 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. "We gave up a lot of chances and a lot of goals; a lot of rush goals, a lot of lush opportunities so our team had two bad games."
Robin Lehner will start in net.
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy did not address the media ahead of the game Sunday.