Avalanche's Samuel Girard: Suiting up versus Sabres

Girard (upper body) will be in action against Buffalo on Thursday, Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now reports.

Girard will return following a 15-game stint on injured reserve due to his upper-body issue. In 73 regular-season games last year, the 27-year-old blueliner notched 24 points but could struggle to produce at that level this time around due to his lengthy injury absence. With Girard back in the lineup, Ilya Solovyov figures to be relegated to the press box as a healthy scratch.