Varlamov played the first two games of the season for the Avalanche, stopping 20-of-21 shots in the opener against the Minnesota Wild and making 35 saves against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
"[Grubauer] is a guy we have a lot of confidence in. Varly played really well in Game 1 so we went back with him in Game 2, turned out to be the right decision," said head coach Jared Bednar. "Now Grubi is going to get a chance to go in the net here. It's a team that he is familiar with, he played them over the last couple seasons out east and faced them in the playoffs a little bit.
"I think he will be excited to go, and hopefully our team can repeat our performance and even better our performances than we just had at home in front of him."
Grubauer was acquired from Washington in a draft-night trade on June 22 in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2017 draft (47th overall). Colorado also received Brooks Orpik in the deal, but he was soon bought out by the club.
"You want to get the two points, you want to play the right way first game, get off to a good start of the season," Grubauer said. "The guys played unbelievable the last two games, and we will try to carry that over. The last home game was really important before we go on the road."
The Avalanche will visit the Blue Jackets on Tuesday before playing at the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday on its first road trip of the season. Before hitting the road, the Avs had a 30-minute practice at Family Sports Center on Monday.
"It was good, nice early practice this morning," said veteran Ian Cole. "We had a day off [yesterday and] to be able to hop on quick, get a good quick skate, get to the plane and get right back at it in Columbus is going to be huge."
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth, who missed Colorado's game against the Flyers with an upper-body injury, practiced in a red, non-contact jersey, and Bednar is hopeful he will be able to play during the two-game trip.