The return of Calvert and Cole mark the night as the Avs visit the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Columbus Blue Jackets come into the second week of the season dealing with a banged up lineup. The Jackets lost Brandon Dubinsky for 4-6 weeks with an oblique injury. That is on top of Seth Jones still recovering from his preseason injury.
The visiting Avs also may have a significant player out tonight due to injury. The Colorado captain, Gabriel Landeskog is dealing with an undisclosed lower body injury and was held out of practice over the weekend.
According to The Post, Coach Jared Bednar said that “He’s dealing with a little bit of a lower-body thing, so we gave him a maintenance day. Hopefully, he’s good to go.”
The Avs practiced with former Jacket Matt Calvert on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. It will be the first time Calvert returns to Columbus since signing with the Avs in the offseason.
The Jackets are expected to play a tribute video for Calvert who was the longest tenured Jacket before his departure.
Columbus Line-Up
Columbus Blue Jackets
Artemi Panarin – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno – Alexander Wennberg – Anthony Duclair
Boone Jenner – Riley Nash – Josh Anderson
Sonny Milano – Lukas Sedlak – Oliver Bjorkstrand
With the injury to Brandon Dubinsky the lines look a little different. Riley Nash takes Dubinsky’s spot on the third line which has been the team’s best line through two games. Lukas Sedlak makes his season debut on the fourth line and Bjorkstrand and Duclair swap lines.
Duclair has been rolling through two games on the fourth line and has earned more ice time. The team is also hoping that Duclair can help jumpstart Alexander Wennberg who has struggled through the preseason and the first two games.
Markus Nutivaara – Ryan Murray
Scott Harrington draws in place of Adam Clendening after being activated off of IR. He was recovering from a concussion.
Bob is looking for his first victory of the year.
Colorado Lines
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Alex Kerfoot – Tyson Jost – Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto – Carl Soderberg – Gabriel Bourque
Sheldon Dries – J.T. Compher – Matt Calvert
That top line for Colorado is scary good. It was the best line in the NHL last season. If I had a vote for the Hart Trophy, MacKinnon would have got my vote.
Nikita Zadorov – Mark Barberio
Samuel Girard is in his second full season in the NHL. He was traded to Colorado from Nashville as a part of the three way deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa.
The Avs made a crafty deal with the Caps to acquire Grubauer in the offseason. He will make is first start for his new squad tonight. The Jackets of course, picked Brubauer apart in the first two games of their playoff series last year before the Caps switched over to Braden Holtby.
Game Information
- Game: Colorado Avalanche (2-0-0) at Columbus Blue Jackets (1-1-0)
- Time: 7 PM
- Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
- TV: Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports Go, Altitude
- Radio: 97.1 The Fan (Columbus, OH)
- Live Tweet: @UnionAndBlue
The game will be an emotional one for the fans as Matt Calvert comes back to town but the Jackets need to get their first home win of the season.