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Recap: Avalanche can’t get out of early hole, fall 5-4 to rival St. Louis 5 Apr 7:00 PM (13 hours ago)

Mistakes and turnovers put Colorado in a 4-0 hole, but despite a valiant effort, it was too much in the end.

The mistakes were too much to overcome.

The Colorado Avalanche got into a deep hole early on and ultimately fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-4 Saturday evening at Enterprise Center despite putting up a valiant effort late in the game.

Ross Colton, Miles Wood, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sam Malinski scored for the Avalanche (47-27-4), who suffered a defeat for just the third time in their last nine games (6-2-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves in a challenging outing.

On the other end of the ice, Robert Thomas had a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to eight games (four goals, 15 assists), and Zack Bolduc tattooed Colorado with two power play goals for the Blues (43-28-7) who improved their wild card advantage over the Minnesota Wild to four points. Jordan Binnington struggled late, but was outstanding for most of the game with a 35-save performance. The Blues also set a franchise record with their 12th consecutive win.

First Period

Joel Kiviranta put the Avalanche down a man just 31 seconds into the game when he cross-checked Jordan Kyrou. It took just 16 seconds for the Blues to capitalize on the power play, which also happened to be the first shot of the game, when Bolduc blasted a one-timer from the slot off a centering pass from Thomas.

Jake Neighbors doubled the lead at 7:41 of the period when Thomas, again, found his man in the slot for a sweet backhand that snuck over an outstretched Blackwood. The sequence unfolded following a defensive turnover from Makar that ended up with the Blues adding to their lead and a 2-0 advantage after the first period.

Second Period

The backhand continued to be Blackwood’s Achilles’ heal when Pavel Buchnevich added to the hemorrhage when he took Jimmy Snuggerud’s saucer at the top of the crease.

After Artturi Lehkonen was sent to the box for hooking Philip Broberg, Bolduc scored his second power play goal of the game at 8:53 with a snap shot from the high slot, once again off a pass from Thomas. The rout was on with a Blues 4-0 lead at that point.

However, the Avalanche finally began to claw their way back. Colton made it a 4-1 game at 15:32 when he tapped in a pass from Logan O’Connor. Two minutes and 13 seconds later, Wood scored for the second time in as many games following a turnover in the Blues zone that found him in perfect position from the slot. And he followed through on the opportunity, beating Binnington with a quick wrister. Still down 4-2 were the Avalanche after 40 minutes of play.

Third Period

The final frame remained scoreless until MacKinnon scored with 2:18 left in the game with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle with Blackwood pulled for the extra attacker to get the Avalanche within one.

However, the rally took a huge hit when Thomas scored on the empty net to make it 5-3 with 31 seconds left in the game. Colorado refused to give up, though. Malinski scored with nine seconds left in the matchup, but that’s all she wrote. The Blues held on for the 5-4 win.

Takeaways

This was a tough pill to swallow. It’s always hard when you lose to one of your biggest rivals, but it was in the way it was lost. The Avalanche outshot the Blues 39-22, but put themselves in a huge hole to start the game. Perhaps a goal or two could have been saved, but the turnovers also put Blackwood in a plethora of peculiar positions, and allowed the Blues to consistently screen in front of the net. This should be a lesson leading up to the playoffs. Despite how electric the offense has been, they can’t be making these mistakes, especially if the Avalanche want to beat teams like Winnipeg and Dallas. Sure, they are now missing some key players in Marty Nečas, Josh Manson, Sam Girard, and Jonathan Drouin, but the miscues are ultimately what cost Colorado the game.

Next Game

The Avalanche are done with their three-game road trip and return to Ball Arena to take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, April 8th. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues (5:00 p.m. MT) 5 Apr 2:00 PM (18 hours ago)

It’s Colorado Avalanche gameday!

The Colorado Avalanche are back on a little winning streak but look to end St. Louis’s wild run tonight at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The last time these teams met, Jordan Binnington stole the show and the game, defeating the Avs at Ball Arena by a score of 2-1. Will the Blues push their winning streak to 12 games and snag the club record for most consecutive wins? Or will the Avalanche play spoiler and exact some revenge?

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado staged a comeback earlier in the week and followed that up with a seven-goal performance against a desperate Columbus Blue Jackets club. A lot has been said about how the Avs have handled games lately, with their playoff birth assured, but there is plenty to play for with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon both vying for season-long awards. Cale already has 30 goals, but how far can he take that? Can he log 100 points this season? Will MacKinnon win the Richard and Hart? All that aside, tonight should bring about even more want-to from Jared Bednar’s club after losing to the Blues just a week ago!

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Valeri Nichushkin
Jimmy Vesey — Brock Nelson — Ross Colton
Miles Wood — Charlie Coyle — Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren — Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton — Erik Johnson

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

St. Louis Blues

Head coach Jim Montgomery has done an excellent job with the Blues team late in the season as hard work has manifested, earning the Blues their 11-game winning streak. A season that appeared to be ending after game 82 now looks destined to enter the postseason with Jordan Binnington playing his best hockey. The Blues have already booted Minny from the WC1 position and are seven points clear of Calgary, who is now chasing the Wild for the final WC spot. The Blues will get in, but who will they draw in round one? Dallas or Winnipeg? We shall see.

Projected Lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich — Robert Thomas — Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours — Brayden Schenn — Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph — Oskar Sundqvist — Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko — Radek Faksa — Nathan Walker

Philip Broberg — Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler — Nick Leddy
Ryan Suter — Tyler Tucker

Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer

Preview: The Avalanche visit streaky St. Louis for a grudge match 5 Apr 8:17 AM (yesterday, 8:17 am)

Can the Avalanche get back at St. Louis in their barn and end their run?

The Colorado Avalanche are back on a little winning streak but look to end St. Louis’s wild run tonight at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The last time these teams met, Jordan Binnington stole the show and the game, defeating the Avs at Ball Arena by a score of 2-1. Will the Blues push their winning streak to 12 games and snag the club record for most consecutive wins? Or will the Avalanche play spoiler and exact some revenge?

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado staged a comeback earlier in the week and followed that up with a seven-goal performance against a desperate Columbus Blue Jackets club. A lot has been said about how the Avs have handled games lately, with their playoff birth assured, but there is plenty to play for with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon both vying for season-long awards. Cale already has 30 goals, but how far can he take that? Can he log 100 points this season? Will MacKinnon win the Richard and Hart? All that aside, tonight should bring about even more want-to from Jared Bednar’s club after losing to the Blues just a week ago!

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Valeri Nichushkin
Jimmy Vesey — Brock Nelson — Ross Colton
Miles Wood — Charlie Coyle — Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren — Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton — Erik Johnson

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

St. Louis Blues

Head coach Jim Montgomery has done an excellent job with the Blues team late in the season as hard work has manifested, earning the Blues their 11-game winning streak. A season that appeared to be ending after game 82 now looks destined to enter the postseason with Jordan Binnington playing his best hockey. The Blues have already booted Minny from the WC1 position and are seven points clear of Calgary, who is now chasing the Wild for the final WC spot. The Blues will get in, but who will they draw in round one? Dallas or Winnipeg? We shall see.

Projected Lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich — Robert Thomas — Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours — Brayden Schenn — Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph — Oskar Sundqvist — Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko — Radek Faksa — Nathan Walker

Philip Broberg — Justin Faulk
Cam Fowler — Nick Leddy
Ryan Suter — Tyler Tucker

Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer

Friday Feels: Stayin’ Motivated 4 Apr 11:39 AM (yesterday, 11:39 am)

Locked into the Central 3 Seed, the Avs need to stay motivated to close out the regular season

Kind of an ugly stretch of game this week, eh? Two losses to Western playoff bubble teams, a shootout win over lowly Chicago, and a win taking advantage of an off night for Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins have made it clear this team realized they’re locked into the 3 seed in the Central and don’t have much to play for.

Guys with minor injuries are resting instead of playing, which is good - but the guys playing seem like they might also be resting at times, and that’s hard to watch. So here’s a couple clips this team should be using to get motivated:

SHOW ME THE MONEY: Yeah, let’s just get this out of the way first - plenty of guys are playing for their next contract. Joel Kiviranta could hit the 20 goal mark and earn a serious pay bump. Brock Nelson reportedly wants more than a 3 year, $7.5 million contract, and Sam Malinski needs more points to demand more than league minimum next year. That’s just naming a few who could really use these next few games to convince CMac to show them some cash.

I WANNA WIN THAT TROPHY:

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are still putting up points despite looking lethargic at times this week, and that’s good because both of them are in the thick of NHL Awards races — Mack is barely ahead of Nikita Kucherov for the Art Ross trophy and the oddsmakers’ favorite to win his second consecutive Hart MVP honors, and Cale seems to have pulled away from an injured Quinn Hughes in the Norris conversation with his second straight 90 point season. Cale’s 30 goals are an incredible feat for a defenseman, and he could set the Cap Era goals record for a defenseman with just 2 more to pass Mike Green’s 31.

THE BUS IS A COLD, UNFORGIVING PLACE:

You don’t want to have to ride the bus, you better cement a spot in the NHL. The Avs are a roster loaded with tried and true NHLers right now, but there’s a couple guys on the fringes who need to prove they belong for next season and beyond or they could be in the AHL taking busses instead of planes for the rest of their careers - Keaton Middleton chief among them. Jimmy Vesey and even Miles Wood and Sam Malinski can’t be taking future NHL roster spots for granted. They’ll probably handle a bus ride better than Larry David, but do they really want to have to? I don’t think so.

FRIENDS HELP FRIENDS

The rest of the guys need to just find it inside themselves to help their friends get paid, win trophies, and stay in the league, because they genuinely do have nothing to play for til the playoffs.

FRIDAY FEELS

Let me just take a moment to say thank you to those who offered late congratulations on my engagement. I do appreciate it, though I hope y’all know I was totally joking around in last week’s column. In honor of that, let’s do Jokes and Chokes this week.

JOKE: Cale Makar’s Norris Candidacy

It’s an absolute joke that there are national media personalities talking about other candidates. Cale’s 6th in league scoring with 90 points, just scored his 30th goal - making him the 9th defenseman EVER to do so and only the second this century - and he plays arguably the toughest minutes of anyone in the conversation based on matchup data. Quinn Hughes is very good and Zach Werenski is having a renaissance season, but neither actually compare to Cale Makar statistically or in their impact in all three zones.

CHOKE: Third Period Collapses

When the Avs came back to beat Chicago with two goals in the third period and a shootout capper on Wednesday, it really put into perspective why Colorado’s recent habit of giving up late game comebacks has been so frustrating — teams full of teenagers do that, not Stanley Cup contenders. The Avs know how to close out games, but seem to get caught in traps of their own making when they take their collective foot off the gas late in games they’re controlling. That hasn’t happened as frequently as it maybe felt to fans and media immediately after the Flames game, but it sure shouldn’t happen any more.

JOKE: Charlie Coyle First Goal as an Avalanche

It’s an absolute joke that it took Coyle 14 games to finally put a biscuit in the basket in an Avs jersey - he’s played very well since arriving and certainly deserved a bit more in the results column.

He’s only mustered 4 assists in that stretch too, which feels very low for a guy who genuinely looks great in his role. Some of this is usage (it’s no coincidence his first game getting genuine top six minutes and powerplay time resulted in his first goal), but it also speaks to how he plays as a third line center - he’s playing defense first, making safe plays, and controlling possession to set up passes that lead to the passes that create goals. If third assists were a thing, I’d be surprised if he didn’t have a ton of them.

CHOKE: Injuries Are Back!

Stop it injury bug! We already dealt with you too much! Martin Necas’ neck injury in the Chicago game looked very scary, but he was able to return. Jonathan Drouin was far less lucky in the same game, as a slight knee on knee hit from Nick Foligno forced him out in the first period. Neither played in Columbus, joining Sam Girard and Josh Manson on the shelf for the time being. That’s a significant chunk of Colorado’s secondary stars dinged up going into the playoffs - better now than late April, I suppose, but let’s hope they can heal up quick (and maybe bring Gabe Landeskog back to the lineup with them??!?)

PREDICTIONS

Maybe I should have factored in motivation issues when I decided to only predict wins, because the Avs lost two and tried to lose a third this week before waking up to force overtime in Chicago and then beat up Columbus. I did nail some detail predictions though! The PK was perfect in St Louis, Wedgewood made less than 25 saves in Chicago, and Charlie Coyle got his first goal - call me an oracle if you want (and ignore everything else I got wrong).

Saturday @ St Louis: 5-2 W, PK gives up no goals (yes I’m running this back)
Tuesday vs Vegas: 5-4 W, Sam Girard returns and scores
Thursday vs Vancouver: 8-0 W, Cale Makar tallies 3 or more points

Can the Colorado Eagles go all the way? 4 Apr 7:00 AM (2 days ago)

The players and the coaching staff are all in this year for a Calder Cup championship.

How deep can the Colorado Eagles go this postseason? It is a question that I started asking myself right after the All-Star Classic in January. The furthest that the Eagles have ever made it in the Calder Cup Playoffs has been the Division Finals in 2022. That year they lost to the Stockton Heat (CGY) three games to one. But this season I believe they can go the distance and here is why.

The Captains Have Returned

Jayson Megna has returned to the Eagles after playing a year for the Providence Bruins (BOS). He has provided excellent leadership in the locker room and a threat on the penalty kill. Megna has one shorthanded goal this season and leads the AHL in shorthanded points (7). He is third on the team in points with 48 (16/32) in 59 games this season. The captain has increased his point production by 15 points this season compared to 2022.

The big addition has been Jacob MacDonald. He is back for his second stint with the Eagles as well, this time setting records. MacDonald leads the AHL in goals for a defenseman with 29, one away from the league record set by John Slaney in 1999–2000. His 53 points not only lead the Eagles, but all defensemen in the league. He has been a force to be reckoned with on the power play, scoring 13 goals on the man advantage.

The Team

The Eagles are now in their seventh season since upgrading from the ECHL. Their last two seasons there, they won back-to-back Kelly Cups under head coach Aaron Schneekloth. Greg Cronin took over head coaching duties when the team moved up to the AHL, leaving for Anaheim last year. Schneekloth has since taken the duties over again and done nothing but improve the team.

This season they have the best winning percentage (.662) they have had since joining the AHL and currently stand third in the league. The Eagles are fighting for a division title they could secure in the next few days.

The Playoffs

If the playoffs started today, the Eagles would have a first-round bye for the play-in. They would play the lowest seeded winner from that round, which would probably be at this time the Coachella Valley Firebirds (SEA). Colorado holds the advantage with a 5–3–0–0 record this season against the Firebirds. Unfortunately, the last time these two met in the playoffs (2023), the Firebirds won three games to two. They will be a hard team to beat since they have gone to the finals the last two years, so there is plenty of experience there.

American Hockey League

If the Eagles can maintain home ice throughout the playoffs, that will help them for sure. Colorado has the best record at home in the Western Conference with a 23–5–2–2 record. Players have always said that playing Blue Arena is hard because of the fans. Some players, like Matthew Phillips who played for the Heat, mentioned that he is glad he is on the right side of the bench because of it.

The belief is there for the Eagles, now they just have to continue doing what they have been doing all season and that is to win.

Recap: Avalanche survive bad goaltending duel in Columbus 3 Apr 7:00 PM (2 days ago)

Colorado officially clinches a playoff berth in the 7-3 win.

After the shootout win in Chicago it was a quick turnaround for the Colorado Avalanche, including some unfortunate travel logistics, to play a desperate Columbus Blue Jackets squad looking to make the postseason the first time since their rebuild. Instead, it was the Avalanche punching their ticket to playoffs in a wild and wacky 7-3 win. It wasn’t easy but Cale Makar’s 30th goal gave Colorado the momentum they needed to pull away in the second half of the game.

The Game

If the Avalanche were weary it didn’t show in the start of the game as they had energy and opened the scoring on a Nathan MacKinnon goal at 3:24 which put him ahead in the Art Ross Trophy race for the time being. It didn’t take long for the Blue Jackets to answer back, however. Three minutes later Sean Monahan found a loose rebound in the crease and whacked the puck past MacKenzie Blackwood making his first start since the weekend.

After some ineffective play including a power play, the Avalanche found some life again on a Brock Nelson goal at 18:04. A Cale Makar shot bounced to a wide open Nelson who chipped the puck into a yawning cage to put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at the conclusion of the first period.

To start the second frame, Colorado had to kill a too many men penalty and then Blackwood gave up a soft sharp angle goal that trickled through him to Zach Aston-Reese at 4:16. It didn’t get much better from there as Boone Jenner deposited a Jack Johnson shot that bounced out of Blackwood’s glove at 7:56 and put Columbus up 3-2.

Columbus at that point was in a good position to grind out a win until the wheels fell off in the second half of the period as Elvis Merzlikins got sniped by both Charlie Coyle and Parker Kelly within a minute of each other to put the Avalanche up by a score. One more power play opportunity and Cale Makar scored his 30th goal of the season in the dying seconds of the man advantage and period for a 5-3 lead after 40 minutes of play.

What finally got Merzlikins pulled was Devon Toews and Miles Wood scoring within the first six minutes of the third period. The game was all but over at that point and it didn’t matter that Daniil Tarasov saved all four shots he faced. The Avalanche cruised through the rest of the third period and arrived at their 7-3 victory.

Takeaways

It was a thinner lineup than the Avalanche have been used to with Sam Girard still missing plus the inclusion of Jonathan Drouin and Martin Necas on the shelf after getting banged up in the Chicago game. Full health updates will have to come when the team returns to Colorado.

Mackenzie Blackwood had almost a week of rest with Scott Wedgewood starting the two games previous to this. Surely there’s no goaltending controversy but Blackwood hasn’t looked at sharp lately and Colorado elected to bring AHL goaltender Kevin Mandolese along for the road trip. Something to watch down the stretch but Blackwood did enough after an uneven start to secure the win in this contest.

Cale Makar reached an incredible milestone hitting the 30 goal mark and is just the ninth defenseman in NHL history to do so. His goal in the second period really turned the game for Colorado and gave them the momentum to close the game out. Makar truly is a game changer and earning this achievement might have just solidified his second Norris Trophy.

Upcoming

One last game on the road trip in a rematch with the St. Louis Blues at 5:00 p.m. MT on Saturday, April 4th.

Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (5:30 p.m. MT) 3 Apr 2:30 PM (2 days ago)

Can Colorado overcome day-of travel to down the Blue Jackets?

It was a weird night for the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. They played poorly but managed to just barely eke out a win in Chicago. Then, a storm system prevented their plane from leaving on schedule, and they got stuck in the Windy City. They got a night in a hotel, but they had to fly to Columbus this morning for tonight’s contest with a Blue Jackets team that’s been resting and waiting for the Avs to arrive.

Both teams come into the game 3-2 in their last five games. However, that number is disappointing for a Colorado team locked into the three seed in the Central and struggling to muster the will to take down lesser teams with more to play for. At the same time, Columbus can be proud of the way they’ve been battling to stay alive in the chase for an Eastern Conference wildcard spot.

For the Avs, this will be their third game against a team that is playing desperate hockey to keep their playoff hopes alive in their last four. The previous two did not end well, as St. Louis and Calgary both outworked and outscored the Burgundy and Blue. They’ll need to find a way to lock in their best effort for this game to overcome their travel woes on a weather-complicated back-to-back and the motivation gap between them and a Columbus team with everything on the line.

Colorado Avalanche:

Artturi Lehkonen (62) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Ross Colton (20) — Brock Nelson (11) — Martin Necas (88)
Joel Kiviranta (94) — Charlie Coyle (10) — Logan O’Connor (25)
Parker Kelly (17) — Jack Drury (18) — Jimmy Vesey (26)*

Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)
Ryan Lindgren (55) — Sam Malinski (70)
Keaton Middleton (67) — Erik Johnson (6)

Mackenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)

*pencilling in Vesey for Jonathan Drouin, since Drouin missed two periods last night after a knee on knee hit from Nick Foligno.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Dmitri Voronkov (10) — Sean Monahan (23) — Kirill Marchenko (86)
Boone Jenner (38) — Adam Fantilli (19) — Kent Johnson (91)
Cole Sillinger (4) — Justin Danforth (17) — Mathieu Olivier (24)
Zach Aston-Reese (27) — Sean Kuraly (7) — Luke Kunin (11)

Zach Werenski (8) — Dante Fabbro (15)
Denton Mateychuk (5) — Ivan Provorov (9)
Jake Christiansen (2) — Jack Johnson (3)

Elvis Merzlikins (90)
Daniil Tarasov (40)

Follow along in the comments below!

Preview: Avs seek consistency in quick turnaround against Blue Jackets 3 Apr 10:03 AM (2 days ago)

The Avs close out the Eastern Conference portion of their schedule in Columbus.

Coming off of a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night, the Colorado Avalanche are right back in action this evening, as they wrap up the Eastern Conference portion of their schedule in Columbus against a desperate Blue Jackets squad.

The comeback effort was a welcomed sight for Avs fans last night, but the team that kind of effort came against made for a very frustrating evening. However, seeing the team struggle to generate impactful offense against a bottom feeder is not new over the last week. In the previous three contests, the Avs have only managed to score five goals, and the powerplay has struggled to mesh after a strong evening against the Los Angeles Kings just seven days ago. With the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the horizon, the Avs need to right the ship while there’s still a little bit of time.

Additionally, the offense may have to find a rhythm while losing one of its key cogs. Jonathan Drouin exited last night’s contest with a lower-body injury following a hit in the first period. Jared Bednar had no update on his status after the game, leaving him up in the air for the second half of this back-to-back.

Colorado Avalanche:

Wednesday night was messy for the Avalanche, but they managed to escape the chaos with two points. In the process, they appeared to lose Jonathan Drouin (and almost Martin Necas) to injury and nearly put up a complete dud of a performance against one of the league’s worst teams. A late third-period comeback helped fuel the Avs to a shootout victory and sets them up much more comfortably for tonight’s contest. They can also clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight with a win in any fashion, so there’s a lot of incentive to come out and bring their A-game.

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Avs have been good this season. They boast a record of 6-3-1 on the second game of back-to-back sets and seem not to have issues coming out of the gate flying in these contests. They’ll have one more back-to-back set to close out the season in Southern California.

There may be some adversity on the table, however. Jared Bednar had no update on Drouin following the game last night, leaving his status up in the air for tonight. The injury, suspected to be in the knee/thigh region, followed a hit from Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno. If he’s out of action, the Avs will have to shuffle the deck a bit to try and find a new look in the top six. Expect Ross Colton to get the promotion to the top six should Drouin be out, and Miles Wood to draw into the lineup. Jimmy Vesey is also an option for Bednar.

Mackenzie Blackwood will draw back between the pipes for the Avs tonight, after Scott Wedgewood handled the first half of the back-to-back set last evening. In 33 appearances for the Avs this season, Blackwood has a 21-9-3 record, with a 2.14 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Blackwood will pick up the second night of the back-to-back set, ensuring he’s in a good flow heading into a very crucial game against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen (62) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Jonathan Drouin (27)*
Valeri Nichushkin (13) — Brock Nelson (11) — Martin Necas (88)
Joel Kiviranta (94) — Charlie Coyle (10) — Ross Colton (20)
Parker Kelly (17) — Jack Drury (18) — Logan O’Connor (25)

Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)
Ryan Lindgren (55) — Sam Malinski (70)
Keaton Middleton (67) — Erik Johnson (6)

Mackenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)

(* = Questionable to play)

Columbus Blue Jackets:

It has been a while since the Avs last squared off with the Blue Jackets. The last time Colorado saw this team was way back in October for the Avs home opener, a game that the Jackets took 6-4. High-scoring affairs are the kind of games Columbus likes to play. The Blue Jackets rank 10th in the NHL in goals for per game (3.23 GFPG) and are bottom five in goals against per game (3.36 GAPG).

Columbus boasts a sneaky talented forward group capable of filling the net, with Boone Jenner, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko, and Sean Monahan leading the way. They also have Zach Werenski, who has had an outstanding season from the blueline while finally enjoying a full season of good health.

The issue for the Jackets is that they struggle just as much to keep the puck out of their own net. With these results, they find themselves right in the center of the Eastern Conference wild card race, currently sitting two points outside of the final wild card spot, currently occupied by the Montreal Canadiens. Columbus has a game or two in hand on each of the teams competing for that last playoff spot, so they somewhat control their own destiny. Expect a very desperate and hungry hockey team on home ice tonight.

With every point mattering to this Jackets squad, there has been a heavy reliance on starting goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to carry the load in net. Expect him to get the nod once again tonight. Merzlikins has had a very odd season statistically. In 49 appearances this season, Merzlikins has a very even 25-19-5 record, with an underwhelming 3.11 goals against average and a .894 save percentage. He’s the best option in Columbus, but Elvis provides a great opportunity for the Avs to get their offense right.

Projected Lineup:

Dmitri Voronkov (10) — Sean Monahan (23) — Kirill Marchenko (86)
Boone Jenner (38) — Adam Fantilli (19) — Kent Johnson (91)
Cole Sillinger (4) — Justin Danforth (17) — Mathieu Olivier (24)
Zach Aston-Reese (27) — Sean Kuraly (7) — Luke Kunin (11)

Zach Werenski (8) — Dante Fabbro (15)
Denton Mateychuk (5) — Ivan Provorov (9)
Jake Christiansen (2) — Jack Johnson (3)

Elvis Merzlikins (90)
Daniil Tarasov (40)