Colorado Avalanche News

Kulak was in the lineup for five straight games but will make way for Victor Mete to get some playing time on Saturday.

Necas was on the ice on Friday and head coach Rod Brind'Amour said that they are "hopeful" that he will play on Saturday. Necas enjoyed a solid start to the season, scoring one goal with four assists and a plus-6 rating in eight games.

Erik Brannstrom is expected to miss at least one week with an undisclosed injury, so wolfing will be back in the lineup on Tuesday. Wolanin has been out with a lower-body injury since January 27th.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour said that Necas is going to be "out for a little while, but I don't think it's going to be very long." It sounds like Necas will miss at least a couple of games but that the injury isn't overly serious, which is good news. Teuvo Teravainen moved up with Vincent Trocehck in Saturday's practice with Necas unavailable.

This is the first time that we've heard any sort of timetable on Francouz, who has missed the entire season to-date. It looks like Hunter Miska will continue to serve as Philipp Grubauer's backup for at least a few more weeks.

MacKinnon left Sunday's game in the third period with a lower-body injury and head coach Jared Bednar called him week-to-week on Tuesday. With MacKinnon out on Tuesday, J.T. Compher will move up between Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen and Sheldon Dries will draw into the lineup.

Toews was hurt late in Thursday's win over the Sharks after blocking a shot with his foot. Toews did not travel to Minnesota, so he'll miss at least two games but could be out longer. Conor Timmins will replace Toews on Saturday.

Wedgewood gave up three goals on 17 shots in the Devils' loss to the Flyers on Thursday. New Jersey dominated the game but were unable to get timely saves from Wedgewood, who has now lost three of his first starts wile posting a 2.80 GAA and .900 SV%. On Saturday he will face a sabres team that has been very competitive to start the season, opening at 3-3-2 while averaging 2.75 goals per game (19th).

Wedgewood surrendered four goals on 30 shots in the Devils loss to the Flyers on Tuesday. It was a tough way to follow up a shutout and moved Wedgewood to 1-2-0 with a 2.70 GAA and .914 SV% since taking over for Mackenzie Blackwood (COVID-19 protocol). Tonight he faces the Flyers again, and so far this season they are 4-2-1 and at tied for sixth in the NHL in goal-scoring (3.57 GF/gm).

Wolanin played 7:35 TOI before departing Wednesday's loss in Vancouver with a lower-body injury. If Wolanin can't play in Thursday's rematch, look for Josh Brown to draw back into the lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch last night. Mike Reilly would take over on PP2.

Wedgewood stopped all 28 shots that he faced in the Devils' shutout win over the Islanders on Sunday. It was a terrific bounce-back performance from Wedgewood, who struggled a bit in his season debut a few nights prior. Tonight he'll face a Flyers team that is dealing with a few injuries and have lost three of their last four games.