PREVIEW: Blue Jackets welcome Avs to Columbus to complete home-and-home

BLUE JACKETS (6-3-0) vs. AVALANCHE (4-4-1)

Patrik Laine
suffered an oblique strain
late in the Blue Jackets' 5-4 overtime win Wednesday night in Colorado, an injury that will cost him four to six weeks. It's a big loss, of course, considering he was skating on the first line and the team's top power play, and Laine was off to a strong start with three goals (including two overtime winners) and seven assists for 10 points in nine games.
CBJ GAMEDAY GUIDE: Notes, the CBJ lineup and more ahead of tonight's game
"Yeah, we're losing a pretty important guy to us," head coach Brad Larsen said Friday after practice. "It is what it is, right? It's part of the game, and we have to deal with it.

"You look at other teams around the league, this is happening everywhere, whether it's sickness, whether it's injuries. In 82 games, this is going to happen, whether it's early or later. Someone is going to get an opportunity and someone is going to have to fill it. I think we have some guys that are champing at the bit to do something in that spot."
It appears the first look will go to rookie Yegor Chinakhov, who has gone from out of the lineup over the weekend to skating Friday on a line with Cole Sillinger and Jakub Voracek, who were Laine's linemates at the end of Wednesday night's victory.
The Blue Jackets would certainly like to add an offensive threat there, especially with Sillinger coming off a two-goal game and Voracek having posted nine assists thus far in nine games, including seven primary helpers.
Laine joins a long list of CBJ players on the shelf, with forward Max Domi still out because of COVID protocols, Emil Bemstrom yet to play this season because of his own oblique injury, defenseman Dean Kukan on injured reserve with a wrist injury and blueliner Adam Boqvist set to miss his fifth straight game Saturday because of a lower-body issue.
But for a coach like Larsen, that just means opportunities are aplenty, and that has allowed someone like Chinakhov to earn more time in his rookie season, while Gavin Bayreuther went into the lineup for the first time Wednesday and turned in nearly 20 solid minutes.
"Guys are dying to play more," Larsen said. "And then you get it, it's like, 'All right, now show me.' We have a pretty good team coming in that took a tough loss and getting a little bit of help here, so we're going to have our hands full tomorrow."

Know the Foe

First off, it could be a very different Avs team that takes the ice tonight than the one the Blue Jackets faced Wednesday in Denver.
Forwards Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky as well as defenseman Devon Toews all practiced Thursday for Colorado, and head coach Jared Bednar said the trio was on pace to play tonight.
That would leave star defenseman Cale Makar, forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Stefan Matteau, and goalie Pavel Francouz still out, but it would also be big progress considering what Rantanen, Burakovsky and Toews all bring to the table.
Colorado will also hope to turn in a better showing than Wednesday night in Denver. After the Avs took a 2-0 lead in the second period, Columbus rallied to take control of the game and scored four straight goals. While Colorado scored twice with an extra attacker to tie the game and force it to overtime, the Avs still were left wanting by the performance.
"It's great to score goals, but at the end of the day you want to win hockey games," said rookie defenseman Bowen Byram, who scored twice including the tying goal. "We were lucky to get a point out of that one. You never want to be in that position late on the third period. You're not going to score two goals with two minutes left every game."
J.T. Compher and Logan O'Connor also scored for the Avs, while Nazem Kadri had three assists and captain Gabriel Landeskog added two. Goalie Jonas Johansson made 32 saves.
On the season, Landeskog (4-6-10) and star Nathan MacKinnon (1-9-10) are tied for the team lead in points, while Compher (5-4-9) and Kadri (3-6-9) are each at a point-per-game pace as well. The forth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Byram now has a 3-5-8 line and is plus-5, while Rantanen (3-2-5 in six games) should add an offensive boost with longtime linemates MacKinnon and Landeskog.
In net, should starter Darcy Kuemper return, he's 4-3-0 in seven starts with a 2.87 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.