Game Day 2: Blue Jackets Look To Build Off Thursday's Play, Battle Avalanche Saturday Night

A moral victory isn't worth two points, but it would be more than fair to suggest that the Columbus Blue Jackets bested the expectations of many in Thursday night's season opener against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. 

They lost — 3-2 was the final — but as Zach Werenski said after the game, it was a good starting point.

"I feel like our body of work in that game and how we played ... if that's our standard, we're going to win a lot of hockey games," said Werenski.

He's right. The Blue Jackets outplayed the Wild for long stretches of the game, particularly the second period — a notoriously weak spot for Columbus over the last number of seasons. They had several opportunities to tie it late but were turned away by Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.

So in advance of Tuesday's sure-to-be emotional home opener, the Blue Jackets will have another chance to come back to Columbus with a win in hand. They face the Colorado Avalanche in what is their home opener at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night:

Here's what to know when the Blue Jackets drop the puck in Denver: 

WHAT TO KNOW: 

• Daniil Tarasov gets the start between the pipes. Head coach Dean Evason didn't say whether or not that was the plan all the way through, but it would be reasonable to assume that with no clear #1, a rotation would be the norm to start the season. Elvis Merzlikins looked fine Thursday.
   
• One glaring difference between this season and last: players were allowed to make mistakes, go up in the zone when appropriate, and were free to play with an aggressive head. This was the expectation under Evason, but to see it play out in real time was a refreshing change of pace. Young guys got time to do their thing, as well. Included in that group: Yegor Chinakhov, who was bumped to the first line after the injury to Boone Jenner, skated for more than 20 minutes (20:48) for just the third time in his career.
   
• Jake Christiansen on the second defensive pairing and Mikael Pyyhtia playing 15:50 on the third line may not have been on anyone's BINGO card over the summer, but both youngsters who saw elevated roles Thursday showed why they got it. Pyyhtia, in particular, made high-IQ decisions repeatedly in the opener and was tied with Erik Gudbranson for the team lead in hits, at three.
   
• Forwards and defensive pairings are identical to Thursday. This worked well for long stretches of the game, and no line stood out as particularly poor. Evason will surely make adjustments early in the season, but liked what he saw in the opener well enough to do it again in Denver. Full line projections: