Avalanche's Samuel Girard: Will play in Game 1

Girard (upper body) will dress for Friday's Game 1 against the Sharks, Adrian Dater of BSN Denver reports.

Girard missed the final three games of the team's opening-round upset of Calgary, but he's doing well enough to rejoin the mix on the back end. Either Cale Makar or Patrick Nemeth will come out of the lineup unless the Avalanche opt to roll with seven defensemen for the contest.