Avalanche Of Opportunity On Defense

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Long-term injuries are never a good thing for a team. For players, it's tough to see a teammate out of the lineup, battling through adversity to get healthy and get back in game shape.
However, it's also an opportunity for others to fill those vacant roles and showcase their skills. That's the chance that Colorado Avalanche defensemen Eric Gelinas and Cody Goloubef will get with fellow blueliners Erik Johnson and Fedor Tyutin out of the lineup.

Johnson is out six to eight weeks with a leg injury, breaking his fibula after blocking a shot in the Avalanche's game on Saturday against the Dallas Stars, while Tyutin will miss his second straight contest with a minor lower-body injury.
For guys like Gelinas, this is a chance to prove himself as the next man up.
"It's too bad we lost probably our best defenseman. I feel bad for him, but at the same time it's a great opportunity for me," Gelinas said. "I try to look at it as like a two-month interview pretty much; I'll have six to eight weeks to prove myself. I can help this team, and it's up to me to show up and play well and play strong."
Gelinas will be competing in his second consecutive game tonight against the Nashville Predators after being a healthy scratch for five straight and seven of the previous eight outings.
He'll look to help a club that is coming off a 3-0 loss against the Stars and is winless in its last five outings (0-4-1).
"I think if you ask anybody in the league, they don't want to be in this situation," said Gelinas of watching the game instead of playing in it. "We're hockey players because we want to play hockey, and we don't want to be just a practice guy or a workout guy. It's tough, especially that we didn't really win many games lately. It's tough; you want to help and you want to do your thing and stuff like that. It's frustrating. It's a situation that's not really fun to be in. Now I see a great opportunity for me to get out of that situation."

At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Gelinas said he feels he's a better player when he's physical and engaged in the action.
"I'm a D-man with size. I can skate and create some offense, so I think I just want to be that guy, be solid defensively and physical and the rest will come," said Gelinas, who will be paired on the backend with Patrick Wiercioch. "I'll get my chances offensively. I think Patty is a similar type, a big guy with a bit of offensive touch. We can rely on each other pretty well."
The Vanier, Ontario, native has one assist and six penalty minutes in eight contests this season, and Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said if Gelinas "can come in and play well for us then he's got a chance to carve himself a spot in our regular roster."
For Goloubef, it will be his first contest with a new club.
The 27-year-old rear guard was acquired by the Avalanche organization on Nov. 28 in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and played two games last weekend in the American Hockey League with the San Antonio Rampage before being called up late Sunday.
He took part in his second practice with Colorado on Tuesday morning.
"Any opportunity you get, you just want to play the best you can," Goloubef said. "It's as simple as that. I'm just going to go with that game plan and try and contribute any way I can."
Goloubef will play on defense with veteran Francois Beauchemin. The Avs' other defensive combo will be Tyson Barrie and Nikita Zadorov.

LANDESKOG, TYUTIN CLOSE TO RETURNING

Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Fedor Tyutin are making good progress with their respective lower-body injuries. Both took part in morning skate in regular practice jerseys and while neither will be in the lineup this evening, their return seems imminent.
"[Tyutin] and Landy both are getting close. I expect them both full contact at tomorrow's practice," said Colorado head coach Jared Bednar, who also noted that Landeskog took a limited amount of contact at the end of Tuesday's session.
Landeskog will miss his ninth-straight game, having last played on Nov. 15 against Los Angeles. Tyutin will be out for his fifth contest of the season, as he missed three games earlier in the year with a minor groin injury.

LOOKING FOR OFFENSE

John Mitchell will center a line with Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen this evening, as head coach Jared Bednar looks to find the right mixture with his players so the Avalanche can start generating more offense.
"Mitchell has been playing real well for us. He's been kept off the board from a production standpoint, and we're trying to get some lines together here that can spark some of our offense," Bednar said. "He's been a good possession guy for us in the offensive zone. He's protecting pucks and making plays every night. So to get him with a couple dangerous guys like Rantanen and Duchene, I think it can help all three of them."
Mitchell noted his main job will be to win races to pucks and feed them to his linemates.
"Those guys are obviously both very skilled players, like to hang onto the puck down low and make plays," he said. "So if we've got to dump the puck in, I want to try and get in on the forecheck, get a bump in on the 'D,' and then hopefully they can swing in and pick up that puck and we can sustain some O-zone pressure."

PROJECTED LINEUP

Rene Bourque - Nathan MacKinnon - Blake Comeau
Matt Duchene - John Mitchell - Mikko Rantanen
Mikhail Grigorenko - Carl Soderberg - Jarome Iginla
Andreas Martinsen - Joe Colborne - Cody McLeod
Nikita Zadorov - Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin - Cody Goloubef
Eric Gelinas - Patrick Wiercioch
Semyon Varlamov
Calvin Pickard