Game Preview: Nathan MacKinnon And The Avalanche, Winners Of Seven Straight, Host Blue Jackets Friday Night

COLORADO AVALANCHE

44-20-5 (93 pts; .674%) t-1st, Central Division ROSTER SCHEDULE

9:00 P.M. – FRIDAY, MARCH 22 BALL ARENA DENVER, CO

TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ Power Play (Out of Market)

From up north to out west, the Columbus Blue Jackets continue a five-game road trip Friday night when they go up against the hottest team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avs have won seven straight games, including the last four on the road. Friday's game against the Blue Jackets will be the first of five on home ice for Colorado, where they boast a league-best 26-6-0 record.

Columbus, meanwhile, has a 10-16-7 road record. The ten wins is tied the Ottawa Senators for the third-fewest in the NHL, with only the San Jose Sharks (6) and Chicago Blackhawks (5) having less.

So, on paper, this is the irresistible force versus the quite moveable object. That's why they play the games though, right? Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets and Avalanche meet up for the first time this season:

TALKING POINTS: COL

• Colorado's seven-game winning streak has put them into a three-tie atop the Western Conference's Central Division. The Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets both have the same 93 points as the Avalanche, although Dallas does have one additional game played. The team that finishes third loses home ice, which as above mentioned above is pivotal for a team like the Avs. They absolutely have to look at this game as a must-have two points,.
   
• Nathan MacKinnon gets talked about quite a bit, and he still doesn't get talked about enough. He's the only player in the league who is top five in goals (42), assists (75), and points (117) — though Nikita Kucherov is knocking at the door at 41-81-122. He's also the only player in the NHL with more points than MacKinnon. And then there's this: MacKinnon's 117 points is more than the Blue Jackets top three forwards point totals combined. Johnny Gaudreau (51), Kirill Marchenko (33), and Boone Jenner (32) have 116. 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• Columbus scored a power-play goal in an overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, with Kirill Marchenko's man-advantage tally being a rare sight of late for the Blue Jackets. It was just the club's second power-play goal in the month of March, where they are 2-for-20 in ten games so far.
   
• Is Jake Christiansen part of the Blue Jackets future plans? The team is loaded with young, hungry defenders who are still a year-or-two away, but Christiansen's play since being recalled has shown he's aiming to be in the mix of the future blueline in Columbus. 
   
• As of early Friday morning there's no word yet on whether or not Zach Werenski will be in the lineup, with Columbus recalling David Jiricek from the Cleveland Monsters in the event Z is not able to go. Making the guess that Werenski is in, here are the projected (but subject-to-change) lineups: