Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is tinkering with the lines for the second time in two games, moving rookie right wing Borna Rendulic from the fourth line to a unit with Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene.
"I like his speed and his size," Roy said of Rendulic this morning. Max Talbot will drop to the fourth line.
Well, Rendulic did score a goal two games ago, which is more than can be said of his new linemates. Landeskog has gone 14 games without a goal and Duchene nine.
Nathan MacKinnon, who has one goal in 20 games, will switch from right wing to the left side with John Mitchell and Daniel Briere.
Here are the game notes.
And here is the Avalanche lineup: FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog - Matt Duchene - Borna Rendulic Alex Tanguay - Ryan O'Reilly - Jarome Iginla Nathan MacKinnon - John Mitchell - Daniel Briere Max Talbot - Marc-Andre Cliche - Cody McLeod
DEFENSE Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie Brad Stuart - Nick Holden
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Reto Berra
The Avalanche (15-15-8) have won the first two games of the three-game homestand and are 6-2-2 in the past 10 games. They continue to have problems scoring goals but have been better defensively, permitting one goal or fewer in five of the past 10 and more than three goals once.
"Now we just need to get some confidence offensively and I think we'll be in a good position," Roy said.
The Blue Jackets (16-17-3) didn't skate this morning after losing 6-3 in Arizona on Saturday to open a four-game road trip. They went 10-1-1 in the previous 11 games.
Curtis McElhinney is likely to start in goal after relieving Sergei Bobrovsky in the third period Saturday. He stopped all three shots he faced.