Colorado Avalanche News

Poolman has been out since the season opener due to COVID-19 protocol but will dress as the seventh defenseman on Thursday. Poolman will replace Kristian Vesalainen.

Lankinen allowed four goals on 34 shots in the Blackhawks win over the Hurricanes last Thursday. Lankinen has allowed a combined seven goals in his last two starts, moving his GAA to 2.32 with a .928 SV% through eight starts. Tonight he'll face a Stars team that has opened the season at 5-2-2 while ranking third in the NHL in Goals per game (3.67).

Georgiev allowed five goals on 38 shots in the Rangers loss to the Penguins on January 30th. Since opening the season with a shutout, Georgiev has lost three straight while allowing a combined 12 goals on 82 shots (.854 SV%). Tonight he'll face a Bruins team that has won seven of their last eight (7-0-1) while averaging 4.00 goals for and just 2.38 goals against.

Kiviranta has been out since the Stars season opener on January 22nd but was back on the ice on Monday and is a game-time decision on Tuesday. Kiviranta, who had one goal and one assist before leaving the season opener, is expected to skate with Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn if he plays.

This is the first time that we've heard any sort of timetable on Francouz, who has missed the entire season to-date. It looks like Hunter Miska will continue to serve as Philipp Grubauer's backup for at least a few more weeks.

MacKinnon left Sunday's game in the third period with a lower-body injury and head coach Jared Bednar called him week-to-week on Tuesday. With MacKinnon out on Tuesday, J.T. Compher will move up between Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen and Sheldon Dries will draw into the lineup.

Mittelstadt will suit up for his second game of the season, playing on the first line with Jack Eichel and Victor Olofsson. Mittelstadt had one assist in 10:02 TOI in his first game of the season.

Toews was hurt late in Thursday's win over the Sharks after blocking a shot with his foot. Toews did not travel to Minnesota, so he'll miss at least two games but could be out longer. Conor Timmins will replace Toews on Saturday.

Georgiev allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Rangers loss in Buffalo on Tuesday. Igor Shesterkin has started three of the last four games, so they'll give Georgiev the nod in the first game of a two-game set vs. the Penguins. After opening the season with a 23-save shutout, Georgiev has lost his last two while allowing a combined seven goals on 44 shots (.841 SV%). Pittsburgh comes in at 4-3-1 while averaging 2.75 goals per game (19th) through their first eight games.

Helm has missed the last two games with an undisclosed issue but could return to the lineup on Thursday. Helm is listed as a game-time decision but even if he plays he no fantasy value in a bottom-6 role for the Red Wings.

Georgiev was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots in the Rangers' loss to New Jersey last Tuesday. Igor Shesterkin started the last two games but lost both, so they'll come back to Georgiev on Tuesday. He posted a 23-save shutout in his first start of the season but draws a tough assignment against a Sabres team that is playing good hockey to start the season.

Kiviranta was on the ice for the start of Saturday's practice but left the session early and landed on IR on Sunday morning. With Kiviranta on IR, the Stars recalled Tanner Keto from the taxi squad but Rhett Gardner replaced him on a line with Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov.

Helm returned from a COVID-19 related absence on Friday but is once again questionable for Sunday's rematch in Chicago. The Red Wings have a lot of players missing right now, so they'll likely need to bring someone up from the taxi squad to replace Helm if he's unavailable.

Manson missed Wednesday's game with an injury he suffered on Monday and unfortunately for the Ducks, the oblique issue will keep him out for roughly six weeks. This is a huge loss for a Ducks blueline that is running thin on experience.

Manson played just 6:14 TOI on Monday before leaving with an upper-body injury. With Manson out for Wednesday's game vs. the Wild, Andy Welinski will draw into the lineup and Jani Hakanpää will move up to play with Cam Fowler.

Francouz suffered a minor injury and is listed as day-to-day, so Hunter Miska has been promoted to the active roster to serve as Philipp Grubauer's backup in Los Angeles.

Poolman was added to the COVID-19 list over the weekend and will not be available for Monday's game in Toronto. In addition to Poolman's absence, Dylan DeMelo did not make the trip either due to personal reasons.