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Landy could miss Jackets game; Grubauer to make first start |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche could be without captain Gabriel Landeskog on Tuesday in Columbus when they open a two-game road trip.
Landeskog, who was in the X-ray room at the Pepsi Center on Saturday after the Avalanche’s 5-2 win against Philadelphia, didn’t practice Monday. Forward Vladislav Kamenev was recalled from the AHL Colorado Eagles.
“He’s dealing with a little bit of a lower-body thing, so we gave him a maintenance day,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Hopefully he’s good to go.”
Matt Calvert practiced in Landeskog’s place on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Kamenev was in Calvert’s spot with J.T. Compher and Sheldon Dries.
“If for some reason that Landy can’t go, then I think we’re going to give (Calvert) a shot on that top line,” Bednar said. “We want to see him be energized and help drive our group.”
Kamenev, 22, won’t play against the Blue Jackets if Landeskog does. He had one assist and was minus-3 in the Eagles’ first two games over the weekend.
“We need him to get dialed into our systems and play with pace and sort of raise his urgency in his game,” Bednar said, a criticism he had for Kamenev during training camp. “We’ve seen flashes of it, but getting more consistent at that is important.
“When he’s going to get in, I’m not sure yet, but we feel confident that he’s a guy that we can grow with. He’ll get some opportunity here because we like what he brings to the table.”
Defenseman Patrik Nemeth, who didn’t play Saturday because of an upper-body injury, practiced Monday while wearing a non-contact jersey. Bednar said he expected Nemeth to be cleared for contact as early as Tuesday and to be available to play on the trip.
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Goalie Philipp Grubauer will make his Avalanche regular-season debut Tuesday.
He was acquired from Washington on July 22 with defenseman Brooks Orpik for a second-round pick (No. 47) in the 2018 NHL draft. The Avalanche bought out the final year of Orpik’s contract – he eventually re-signed a one-year deal with the Capitals – and Grubauer signed a three-year, $10 million contract with Colorado.
“First game, always exciting,” he said. “You want to get the two points, you want to play the right way first game, get off to a good start. The guys played unbelievable the last two games and you try and carry that over. Last home game was really important before we go on the road.”
Grubauer, 26, had a 43-31-11 record in his time with the Capitals, 15-10-3 last year with three shutouts, a 2.35 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. He didn’t fare so well in the playoffs, going 0-1 in two games with a 4.57 goals-against average but did get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
Bednar has said the goalie playing the best will get the majority of starts.
“You got to earn it, you got to win games and earn it,” Grubauer said.
Grubauer hasn’t played since Sept. 28, a 3-1 preseason win against Minnesota’s ‘B’ team, but he said the layoff shouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s been my life for the last four years,” he said, referring to his mostly backup role with Washington. “Just staying ready in practice and waiting for the opportunity. I’m just going to play my game, simple: stop some pucks and win some games."
On Columbus: “Good team, really offensive, same as us. Lots of stuff on the rush and they’ve got a really good back end, so we have to have a really good game.”
Grubauer has an 0-1-1 record in three career games against Columbus with a 2.46 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.
“He’s a guy we have a lot of confidence in,” Bednar said. “It’s a team that he’s familiar with. He played them over the last couple seasons out east and faced them in the playoffs a little bit. I think he’ll be excited to go.”
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