After breaking two ribs during a team practice earlier this month, John Tortorella will be back behind Columbus’ bench in Edmonton on Tuesday night.
Torts was hurt after forward Rene Bourque slid into him.
Per The Dispatch, the Jackets’ bench boss will travel to Edmonton with his team on Monday and he’s expected to be present when practice gets underway at 4:00 p.m. mountain time.
Associate coach Craig Hartsburg, who replaced Tortorella during his absence, dropped a shootout decision to Boston in his first game, but he followed that up with back-to-back wins against Montreal before the break.
In other injury-related news, backup goalie Curtis McElhinney is also expected to travel to Edmonton.
The 32-year-old has missed the last 11 games with an ankle injury. With starter Sergei Bobrovsky also on the shelf, the Blue Jackets have been forced to roll with rookies Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo in goal.
Related: After a rough start to his NHL career, Korpisalo’s been much better of late.
The team still isn’t sure if McElhinney will be cleared to play during their upcoming three-game road trip in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary.