Avalanche at Blue Jackets
Philipp Grubauer came to Colorado hoping for a promotion of sorts and will get his first chance to impress his coaches and teammates when the undefeated Avalanche visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Grubauer, who served as Braden Holtby's backup for most of his six seasons in Washington, has watched incumbent No. 1 Semyon Varlamov allow three goals and stop 55 of 58 shots in Colorado's season-opening victories over Minnesota and Philadelphia.
“That’s the next step for me, taking over as the No. 1,” Grubauer told the Denver Post during the preseason. "It’s up to the coach, but I want to play every one.'' Grubauer surprisingly started the Capitals first two playoff games last season and lost both, prompting coach Barry Trotz to reinsert Holtby for the rest of Washington's run to the Stanley Cup. Columbus split its first two games, winning in overtime at Detroit on Thursday and losing its home opener to Carolina on Friday after allowing 16 odd-man rushes by the Hurricanes, prompting coach John Tortorella to tell reporters his team was "too cute. It’s a worry of mine with this club. Sure, you can be a skilled team, but you’re going to have to grind a number of minutes in the National Hockey League.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (2-0-0): Nathan MacKinnon, a Hart Trophy finalist after recording career highs of 39 goals and 58 assists last season, has scored one goal in each game while linemate Mikko Rantanen, whose 29 goals and 55 assists were career bests last season, has a goal and two assists. J.T. Compher has a goal in consecutive contests after scoring 13 of his 18 career goals last season. Defenseman Erik Johnson matched a career high with three points versus Philadelphia on Saturday - his first such game since the 2013-14 season.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (1-1-0): Brandon Dubinsky (goal, assist, 68.8 percent on faceoffs) strained an oblique muscle in Sunday's practice and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, derailing the veteran center's solid start. Artemi Panarin, who scored 88 goals in his first three NHL seasons, has a goal and assist as he begins the final year of his contract. Sergei Bobrovsky (78-39-11, .926 save percentage the last two years combined) is expected to play Tuesday after stopping 32 of 35 shots in his season debut Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado is 6-for-6 on the penalty kill and 2-for-7 on the power play.
2. Columbus' roster to start the season was the youngest in the NHL, averaging 25 years, 90 days.
3. The teams split their two-game season series in each of the last two years with the home team winning in 2017-18 and the visiting side prevailing in 2016-17.