PREVIEW: Blue Jackets vs. Avalanche

AVALANCHE (2-0-0) at BLUE JACKETS (1-1-0)
7 p.m.; Fox Sports Ohio, Fox Sports app, 97.1 The Fan
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Already without injured All-Star defenseman Seth Jones for the first month or so of the season, the Blue Jackets will enter Tuesday's game vs. the Colorado Avalanche at Nationwide Arena without center Brandon Dubinsky, who could miss up to six weeks with a strained oblique muscle.
"It's a tough break for him, a tough break for the team," coach John Tortorella said of the injury that occurred during practice Sunday.
Dubinsky had vowed throughout the preseason that he was going to rebound from a difficult 2017-18 season and showed up healthier, leaner and skating better than anyone had seen in a while.
With Boone Jenner to his left and Josh Anderson on the right, he had a strong start. Dubinsky had an assist in the season-opening win at Detroit and a goal vs. the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in a 3-1 loss. He didn't score his first goal last season until the 14th game.
"Arguably just two games into it that line, and him specifically, we're probably our top. forwards," Tortorella said.

Offseason acquisition Riley Nash will move into Dubinsky's spot on the third line.
Nash's versatility is one reason the Blue Jackets signed him to a three-year, $8.25 million contract on July 1. He had 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists), all NHL career bests, for the Boston Bruins last season playing either the second, third or fourth lines.
"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."

Lukas Sedlak, a healthy scratch the first two games, will center the fourth line with Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Fortunately, Sedlak has played with both for the Blue Jackets' American Hockey League affiliate in Cleveland.
"It's nothing really new to me," Sedlak said. "I know how those guys play. I will just try to get out of their way, I guess."
The defense welcomes back Scott Harrington, who Monday was cleared to play after sustaining a concussion in a preseason game Sept. 28 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With Jones out (MCL sprain), Harrington was in the running for expansive ice before he was concussed.
"At first it was disappointing and frustrating, but you realize with an injury like this you have to let it rest or it's not going to get better," Harrington said.

Welcome, Matt
Forward Matt Calvert and defenseman Ian Cole return to Nationwide Arena for the first time since leaving the Blue Jackets to sign free-agent contracts with the Avalanche on July 1.
Calvert, 28, at the time was the longest tenured Blue Jackets player. He had 149 points (72 goals, 77 assists) in 416 games and 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 16 Stanley Cup Playoffs games since his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets on Jan. 6, 2011.
He will be remembered for his double overtime goal at Pittsburgh on April 19, 2014, that gave the Blue Jackets their first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs victory.
Cole, 29, last season had seven points (two goals, five assists) in 20 games and three assists in six playoff games for Columbus after being acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 26, 2018
On the Avs
The status of Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is uncertain. He had a maintenance day instead of practicing Monday before the team departed for Columbus and coach Jared Bednar said he was dealing with "a little bit of a lower-body thing."
Backup goalie Philipp Grubauer will make his first start for Semyon Varlamov.
Blue Jackets fans will remember Grubauer for starting the first two playoff games for the Washington Capitals vs. Columbus in April. He lost the first game and was replaced by Braden Holtby at the start of the third period in Game 2 after allowing eight goals on 49 shots in the series.
Holtby made seven saves the rest of the game but gave up the winner in overtime to … Matt Calvert.
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno -- Alex 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
Scratched: F Markus Hannikainen, D Adam Clendening, D Gabriel Carlsson
Injured:D Seth Jones (knee), F Brandon Dubinsky
Ahead:The Blue Jackets play Thursday at the Florida Panthers and Saturday at the Tampa Bay Lightning.