Projected Lineup: Avalanche at Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Gabriel Landeskog will be in the Colorado Avalanche's lineup this evening versus the Columbus Blue Jackets after missing Monday's practice with a lower-body injury, head coach Jared Bednar confirmed following the team's morning skate at Nationwide Arena.
Landeskog will be in his left-wing spot on the Avs' top line alongside center Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
Bednar said he is still deciding between Sheldon Dries and Vladislav Kamenev on who will be the Avalanche's 12th forward, but he is leaning toward keeping Dries in and not mixing up the lineup. Kamenev was recalled from the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles on Monday.

That would be the only change to Colorado's lineup, if it is made.
"We've won two games, the lineup has been good, Dries has done a nice job in a limited amount of minutes," Bednar said. "I would like to keep it the same here and move on from there."
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth will miss his second straight contest with a minor upper-body injury. He was a full participant at morning skate, but it was his first practice with contact since getting hurt on opening night.
"Basically what he is going through, he should be a player for us on Thursday," Bednar said of Nemeth. "He was non-contact yesterday, contact today, if he comes through that OK, he'll be ready for a full practice tomorrow and then the game Thursday."
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer will get the start in net, making his regular-season debut for the Avalanche.
"He's been building here in practice. He's anxious to get into the net," Bednar said. "He's familiar with Columbus having played them in the East last year. I'm anxious to see him play. We know what we have in him as a goalie, but we want to see it live now here and hopefully he can help us continue to get some wins here."
Tonight's matchup will be Colorado's first on the road this season and the start of the a two-game trip that concludes on Thursday at the Buffalo Sabres. Game time is set for 5 p.m. MT.
Below is the Avs' projected lineup. All forward line combinations and defensive pairings are subject to change.

Forwards

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
13 Alexander Kerfoot - 17 Tyson Jost - 22 Colin Wilson
83 Matt Nieto - 34 Carl Soderberg - 57 Gabriel Bourque
15 Sheldon Dries or 91 Vladislav Kamenev - 37 J.T. Compher - 11 Matt Calvert

Defensemen

49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
28 Ian Cole - 4 Tyson Barrie
16 Nikita Zadorov - 44 Mark Barberio

Goaltenders

1 Semyon Varlamov (Starter)
31 Philipp Grubauer (Backup)
Healthy Scratch: 15 Sheldon Dries or 91 Vladislav Kamenev
Injury Report:10 Sven Andrighetto (leg), 12 Patrik Nemeth (upper body), 18 Conor Timmins (concussion)