Game Day #15: Labanc Back In, Fabbro Debuts As Blue Jackets Look To Stop Five-Game Skid

Five is the number.

Tuesday's game against the Seattle Kraken is the fifth and final game of the Columbus Blue Jackets longest road trip of the season.

But five is also the number of consecutive games in which the Blue Jackets are without a win. They're 0-3-1 on the road trip, which began after a loss to the Winnipeg Jets on November 1st.

Without a win so far in the calendar month, the Blue Jackets are changing things up a bit to try and change that.

Dante Fabbro will make his Columbus debut and Kevin Labanc has been reinserted into the lineup ahead of the battle with the Kraken.

Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets play their third game ever in the Emerald City: 

• It's getting a bit frustrating for the Blue Jackets, who picked up just one of four possible points against the Ducks and Sharks while on their California road trip. Both teams are in the bottom five of the league in points, and Columbus outplayed both teams for long stretches in both games. As head coach Dean Evason has alluded to on multiple occasions lately, it's the small breakdowns that are costing this team big time right now.
   
• Defenseman Zach Werenski is one of many players who has voiced that they want to see more. “Enough of the moral victories," said Werenski. "We've played well enough in a lot of games this year to win and we end up losing them, and that's on us."
   
• Evason has been fairly consistent with the lineups for a majority of the season, but changes things up a bit Sunday when Adam Fantilli was moved to the wing spot on the top line to play with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko. Tuesday, the spot will go to Dmitri Voronkov, with Fantilli moving back to the second line.
   
• Elvis Merzlikins will get the start between the pipes, while Labanc takes the place of James van Riemsdyk, who will be a healthy scratch. So too will Jordan Harris; Fabbro enters the lineup for him. However, Evason has inserted Fabbro into the top pairing alongside Werenski. This puts Ivan Provorov on the second pairing (and at his natural left side) with Damon Severson. Jake Christiansen, a second-pair staple to this point, goes to the third pairing with Jack Johnson. David Jiricek, like Harris, is a healthy scratch. Here are the full lineups: