A Plague of Injuries

Another Nationwide game as the Columbus blue Jackets take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at 7. Columbus is 1-1-0 and the Aves are 2-0-0.

The Blue Jackets have a long history of nasty injuries, and this season is shaping up to be the exact same.

The team is already down one of their top defensemen, Seth Jones, and now they’re down forward Brandon Dubinsky as well.

The veteran recently suffered from a torn oblique and is expected to miss approximately six weeks. Unfortunate news for Dubinsky after he vowed in the preseason that he would be healthier and stronger this season. Tortorella also felt Dubinsky’s line was our best so far.

In Dubinsky’s absence, Boone Jenner and Josh Anderson will bring Riley Nash to their line. The young player is starting to learn Blue Jackets hockey.

"I'm starting to get a little bit more of a feel for just the style of play Torts wants and what the guys play," Nash said. "The little nuances what the guys play, they become second nature instead of you're thinking about it and doing it.

"It's going to take a little bit of time but definitely we're starting to get on the same page in some areas."

With Nash moving around, and all the injuries, Torts has to fill the gaps, right? Welcome back to the lineup Misters Lukas Sedlak and Scott Harrington!

Sedlak was a healthy scratch in the first two games, but now he will play as center on the Sonny Milano — Anthony Duclair line. The Czech player had four goals and four assists last season for a total of eight points.

Harrington will play in place of Seth Jones on defense with Dean Kukan. He had two goals and three assists. The young defenseman was out of action in these opening games after suffering a concussion during a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on September 28.

In net for the Avalanche is Philipp Grubauer who Columbus faced off against in the playoffs last season. The Washington Capitals started him the first two games against of the playoffs, and Columbus ultimately won both fights while he was in net.

After winning the coveted Stanley Cup with the Capitals, Grubauer was traded to the Colorado Avalanche with Brooks Orpik for a 2018 2nd-round draft pick. The Aves signed him to a three-year contract.

CBJ Projected Lineup

Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno — Alexander Wennberg — Oliver Bjorkstrand

Boone Jenner — Riley Nash — Josh Anderson

Sonny Milano — Lukas Sedlak — Anthony Duclair

Zach Werenski — David Savard

Ryan Murray — Markus Nutivaara

Dean Kukan — Scott Harrington

Sergei Bobrovsky

Joonas Korpisalo

Colorado Avalanche Projected Lineup

Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen

Alexander Kerfoot — Tyson Jost — Colin Wilson

Matt Nieto — Carl Soderberg — Gabriel Bourque

Sheldon Dries — Vladislav Kamenev — J.T. Compher — Matt Calvert

Samuel Girard — Erik Johnson

Ian Cole — Tyson Barrie

Nikita Zadorov — Mark Barberio

Philipp Grubauer

Semyon Varlamov