Blue Jackets at Avalanche preview
Columbus looks to end five-game losing streak; Grubauer expected to start in goal for Colorado
by Rick Sadowski / NHL.com Correspondent
BLUE JACKETS (28-20-3) at AVALANCHE (22-21-8)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-O, NHL.TV
The Game
The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to end a season-high five-game losing streak when they play the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Tuesday.
The Blue Jackets have been outscored 19-11 during the streak, their longest since a six-game streak (0-5-1) from March 30-April 8, 2017.
Philipp Grubauer is expected to start for the Avalanche, who will attempt to end a three-game losing streak, during which they've been outscored 14-4. They've allowed four or more goals in seven of the past 11 games and have lost 13 of their past 16 (3-11-2).
Players to watch
Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak and 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in his past 17 games.
Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past 10 games. He's tied for fourth in the NHL with 74 points and he's third in assists with 51.
They said it
"I just think we have talked it to death. We've had two very important meetings. Rhetoric is great, you feel great about what they said. There's conflict, there's all things that go on in these meetings, but you air it out. Now you have to try and help yourself … you need to change your game to some sort of level that you're helping the team." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"We haven't played desperate hockey, but we should be. I mean, we're out of a playoff spot. There's no panic or anything like that, but you got to get back to winning hockey. You got to put yourself back in a position to be in the postseason. We got to stop the bleeding, and we have to do that tonight." -- Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Nick Foligno -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson
Artemi Panarin -- Alexander Wennberg -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Anthony Duclair -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Josh Anderson
Markus Hannikainen -- Lukas Sedlak -- Riley Nash
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Dean Kukan -- Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington -- David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Mark Letestu
Injured: Boone Jenner (ankle), Ryan Murray (undisclosed)
Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
Alexander Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson
Sven Andrighetto -- Sheldon Dries -- Gabriel Bourque
Ian Cole -- Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Samuel Girard
Philipp Grubauer
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched: Mark Barberio
Injured: Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder)
Status report
Tortorella didn't have updates on Jenner and Murray, who didn't take part in an optional morning skate. Dubinsky, who has been dealing with a lower-body injury, skated and will be a game-time decision. If he plays it will be his 800th NHL game.
Stat pack
Dubois has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games … MacKinnon has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his past 15 games.