Avalanche Host Sabres Tonight as Blackwood Starts, Girard Returns

Overview

• Puck drop at Ball Arena is 7:08 p.m. MT, with Colorado at 11-1-5 and Buffalo at 5-7-4, and the Avalanche leading the NHL in goals while going 5-0-2 at home.
• Mackenzie Blackwood is confirmed in goal for Colorado for his third start of the season and first on home ice.
• Samuel Girard returns after a 15-game absence and is slated on the third defensive pair with Sam Malinski.
• Valeri Nichushkin is out with a lower-body injury from the Anaheim game, and coach Jared Bednar said the timeline is not yet clear.
• Buffalo arrives on the second night of a back-to-back after a loss in Utah and sits last in the Eastern Conference with an 0-4-2 road mark.