AVALANCHE (46-26-4) at BLUE JACKETS (34-30-9)
7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, ALT
Avalanche projected lineup
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Artturi Lehkonen
Miles Wood -- Brock Nelson -- Ross Colton
Joel Kiviranta -- Charlie Coyle -- Jimmy Vesey
Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton -- Erik Johnson
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Kevin Mandolese, Samuel Girard
Injured: Josh Manson (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Tucker Poolman (head), Martin Necas (upper body), Jonathan Drouin (lower body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Dmitri Voronkov -- Sean Monahan -- Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger -- Justin Danforth -- Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese -- Sean Kuraly -- Luke Kunin
Zach Werenski -- Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk -- Ivan Provorov
Erik Gudbranson -- Jack Johnson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Jordan Harris, Christian Fischer, Yegor Chinakhov, James van Riemsdyk, Jack Williams, Jake Christiansen, Damon Severson
Injured: None
Status report
Forwards Necas and Drouin each will not play after being injured in a 3-2 shootout win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday; Necas left briefly in the third period because of a neck injury after falling face-first into the back of Blackhawks center Frank Nazar but returned to score the winning goal. Drouin left in the first period and did not return because of a lower-body injury. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar did not provide an update on either player Thursday. ... Vesey and Wood will enter the lineup. ... Colorado did not travel until Thursday morning because of weather issues following the win at Chicago. ... Jack Johnson, a healthy scratch the past four games, will go in for Severson, a defenseman.
