Eurolanche

Varlamov will be in goal for Avs vs Jets

Season series: Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and two assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Pepsi Center on Nov. 28, 2015. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves in the win.

Avalanche team scope: Varlamov is scheduled to start after Calvin Pickard played the past two games, including a 2-1 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Goaltender Reto Berra (ankle), defensemen Erik Johnson (lower body) and Brad Stuart (back), and forwards Ben Street (chest) and Jesse Winchester (head) are out. The power play is scoreless in the past four games (0-for-9). Colorado has lost three of its past four as it begins a four-game week in which it plays three Central Division opponents. A two-game homestand starts Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Jets team scope: Forwards Adam Lowry and Drew Stafford will miss the game after they were placed on injured reserve Sunday, retroactive to Jan. 14. Each has an upper-body injury. "We'll have a better idea by [Monday]," coach Paul Maurice told the Jets website when asked how long Lowry and Stafford would be out. "You get better information as how go on exactly what you're dealing with. I was hopeful that they would feel a lot better the next day and they didn't." The Jets recalled forwards Patrice Cormier and JC Lipon from Manitoba of the American Hockey League. Cormier, who played one NHL game earlier this season, has six goals and six assists in 34 AHL games; Lipon has eight goals and nine assists in 22 AHL games. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is expected to start for the 16th time in the past 18 games after shutting out the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Friday. Winnipeg has won two games in a row but remains last in the Central Division, three points behind the fifth-place Nashville Predators and two points behind Colorado. Winnipeg hosts Nashville on Thursday as a stretch of nine of 10 games at MTS Centre continues.

-- by Patrick Williams for NHL.com --