Reinforcements on the way on eve of Lake Tahoe matchup with Vegas

It’s not often that a team can insert five healthy players into the lineup from one game to the next, but the Avs may be doing just that on Saturday against Vegas.

After a short practice to test out the digs outdoors at Lake Tahoe ahead of the game on Saturday, Avs coach Jared Bednar announced that all of the players who were previously on the COVID-19 protocol list were eligible to play on Saturday.

That means that Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Jost, and yes, Samuel Girard might all be re-inserted into the lineup for the team. The potential addition of Girard comes as a massive surprise given the Avs had previously mentioned he would not be allowed to skate until Sunday. Obviously, something changed, and he was back on the ice with his teammates Friday afternoon.

Outside of the COVID protocol players, it would appear that Matt Calvert is ready to return after an absence dealing with concussion issues. He was removed from the injured reserve on Thursday and took part in his second straight practice. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is whether Cale Makar will play or not.

For the second straight game, Makar is listed as a “game-time decision”. He took warmups on Tuesday but was not able to play. He skated on Thursday and Friday, including running the top powerplay unit at practice, but Bednar is keeping the fans and media on the edge of their seats by not announcing his lineup plans ahead of the Saturday showdown. From my viewing of him on Thursday, nothing appeared to be bothering him, and we really have no other information on the injury other than it’s to his “upper body”.

If all of these players are able to return, it would provide a huge boost in the middle of a big series against their top challenges in the Western division. It would also mean that outside of Erik Johnson and Pavel Francouz, the team is as healthy as it is going to be and capable of doing some real damage.

A decision on who to remove on defense would seem relatively easy, with Jacob MacDonald likely being the odd man out if both Makar and Girard can return. Up front, however, could prove to be more difficult, as Logan O’Connor has made a case to stay in the lineup. Do you do the easy thing and take the youngster out of the lineup, or do you take a veteran like Valeri Nichushkin out who maybe isn’t having the start they were expecting?

We won’t know until Saturday when the Avs and Vegas hit the ice wearing their Reverse Retro jerseys. The game is set to start at 1 PM MST and will be televised nationally on NBC.