I guess you could call it a positive development that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Monday morning that defenseman Cale Makar (upper body) and goalie Philipp Grubauer (lower body) are day-to-day with the injuries they sustained Saturday in Boston.
It could have been worse.
Neither will play Monday against Calgary at the Pepsi Center, but Grubauer took part in the morning skate. Makar didn’t skate.
Bednar said there is a "possibility" that Makar could return during this three-game homestand, but he later added: “That is a big minus out of our lineup with him out tonight for sure and maybe for the next couple games."
Pavel Francouz will start in goal, and the Avalanche recalled Adam Werner from the Colorado Eagles.
Matt Calvert will play after missing Saturday’s game to attend his grandmother's funeral in Manitoba. T.J. Tynan was reassigned to the Eagles after clearing waivers. Bednar also said center Nazem Kadri (lower body) is day-to-day and will miss his third game in a row. Kadri took part in a portion of the morning skate while wearing a no-contact jersey.
Erik Johnson (lower body) remains out, but Bednar said he expects the defenseman to start skating at some point this week. Colin Wilson (lower body) is scheduled for surgery.
"We're still a good team with guys out, but we're a much better team with everybody healthy, obviously," Nathan MacKinnon said. “It's great to have Mikko (Rantanen) and Gabe (Landeskog) back. We still have guys in and out right now, but to have those two guys is a huge help."
The Avalanche have won six games in a row while outscoring opponents 29-10, and are 11-3-0 in the past 14 games.
The projected lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Andre Burakovsky -- J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi Matt Nieto -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Valeri Nichushkin Vladislav Kamenev -- Tyson Jost -- Matt Calvert
DEFENSE Nikita Zadorov -- Samuel Girard Ryan Graves -- Calle Rosen Mark Barberio -- Ian Cole
GOALIES Pavel Francouz Adam Werner