Avalanche's Samuel Girard: Records helper in return

Girard logged an assist in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Sabres.

Girard missed 15 games due to an upper-body injury. He returned to a third-pairing role Thursday, logging 16:54 of ice time. The helper was his first point of the year to go with three shots on net, four blocked shots, three hits and a plus-2 rating over three outings. Girard's return should help bolster the bottom of the Avalanche's defense, which will make it tougher for Ilya Solovyov to get into the lineup.