 |
| COLORADO AVALANCHE |
|
4–4–1 (9 points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
|
|
|
7 P.M. – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OHIO |
|
|
|
BALLY SPORTS OHIO ESPN+ |
The Columbus Blue Jackets look to make it seven wins in their first ten games as they face the Colorado Avalanche in the second half of a back-to-back that began with a wild win for the Blue Jackets Wednesday night in Denver.
Despite Colorado missing Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, and Andrei Burakovsky, the Avalanche had a 2-0 lead late in the second period before Columbus connected for their first of the game, and the first of four goals the Blue Jackets would score in a span of 12:01 to give them a 4-2 lead in the third. That lead would evaporate in the final minutes, but Jake Bean's overtime goal — his second of the game — gave Columbus two big road points.
After the tough home loss, the Avalanche look to return the favor to the Blue Jackets when they play at Nationwide Arena for the first time in nearly two years.
The Avalanche will get one of their sidelined players back Saturday, as Mike Chambers of The Denver Post reported Thursday that Burakovsky was a full participant in practice and has been cleared to play. The former Washington Capital has excelled in his two-plus seasons with the Avalanche, tallying 93 points in 119 games with Colorado, including a goal and three assists in eight games so far this season.
Columbus, meanwhile, now has an injury of their own to deal with. Patrik Laine was placed on injured reserve with an oblique strain Friday morning after leaving in the third period of Wednesday's game, and the club expects him to miss four to six weeks. The injury couldn't come at a worse time for the 23-year-old, who was coming off back-to-back multi-point games for the first time as a member of the Blue Jackets. The low end of the timetable would see Laine miss just 12 games, while the six week frame would mean 21 games; over a quarter of the season. Either way, it's a tough blow for a team — and a top line — that appeared to be on the cusp of taking that next step.
| BLUE JACKETS | AVALANCHE | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.00 | GOALS FOR | 3.00 |
| 2.89 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.56 |
| 25.0% | POWER PLAY | 11.8% |
| 80.0% | PENALTY KILL | 81.8% |
| 28.2 | SHOTS FOR | 31.7 |
| 34.7 | SHOTS AGAINST | 31.8 |
| 51.4% | FACEOFF WINS | 48.4% |
| 2.26 | EXPECTED GOALS FOR | 2.38 |
| 2.52 | EXPECTED GOALS AGAINST | 1.96 |
| BLUE JACKETS | AVALANCHE | |
| 36.8% | MONEYPUCK'S ODDS TO WIN | 63.2% |
| 45.0% | THE 538'S ODDS TO WIN | 55.0% |
| 15.6% | MONEYPUCK'S PLAYOFF ODDS | 88.4% |
| 25.0% | THE 538'S PLAYOFF ODDS | 82.0% |
Know the Foe
A home-and-home isn't totally unheard of in a typical NHL season; the pair with Colorado is one of five that the Blue Jackets have on the schedule this season. But it is odd — and the only time of those five — that the home-and-home is the entire season series for two teams. Columbus happens to be catching a legitimate Stanley Cup contender at a time where they're battling not only a slow start, but a slew of injuries as well.
Burakovsky's return will provide some reprieve, but it wasn't the offense that struggled for the Avalanche. Colorado's number two goalie, Jonas Johansson, was in net Wednesday. The loss put him at a goals against above 4.00, a save percentage below .900, and reinforced the importance of offseason acquisition Darcy Kuemper, who is expected to get the Saturday night start.
For Columbus to get a second straight win against Colorado, it starts and ends with slowing down the duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. They combined for four points — all assists — in the teams’ first meeting. Two of the most dangerous players in the league who are capable of putting the team on their back at any moment, expect the Avalanche to come out aggressive Saturday and for MacKinnon and Landeskog to see big minutes.
Storylines
-
ENCORE, ENCOLE!: One game, or something more? After giving tastes of what he was capable of in his first eight games of the season, Cole Sillinger served up a five-course meal in the third period and overtime of game number nine, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the third and adding an assist on the overtime game-winner. His 3-2-5 point line (three goals, two assists, five points) in nine games would extrapolate to a full season of 27-18-45, and that's averaging less than 14 minutes of ice time per game. For a frame of reference: Another 18-year-old who played in Columbus — Rick Nash — finished third in the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) voting during his first season. He went 17-22-39 in 74 games while averaging slightly more ice time (13:57) than Sillinger (13:42). Their styles are vastly different from each other, but their overall impact on the franchise and the league itself may be just as important.
-
MISSING MERZLIKINS: He’s not on a milk carton yet, but Elvis Merzlikins has not played in over a week. His last start was his worst of the season, as he allowed four goals in a shutout loss to the New York Rangers on Friday, October 29th. Joonas Korpisalo has made the two starts since then, both wins that featured overtime hockey. It’s no secret that Merzlikins has historically needed consistent ice time to be at his best. Whether or not he’s grown out of that could be answered Saturday.
-
SETTLE DOWN, DEFENSE: After giving up more than two goals just twice in their first six games of the season, the Blue Jackets have now given up three or more scores in three consecutive games. The defense is missing Adam Boqvist and Dean Kukan, so they get a bit of a pass. Eleven goals allowed over the last three games isn’t ideal, but with Scott Harrington, Gabriel Carlsson, Gavin Bayreuther — all fringe NHL players at this point — making up half of the blue line, it’ll take outstanding performances in net for the Blue Jackets to win a game without scoring at least three goals.
Projected Lines*
LW C RW 59 Yegor Chinakhov 34 Cole Sillinger 93 Jakub Voracek 14 Gustav Nyquist 38 Boone Jenner 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand 15 Gregory Hofmann 96 Jack Roslovic 11 Kevin Stenlund 50 Eric Robinson 7 Sean Kuraly 42 Alexandre Texier LD RD 8 Zach Werenski 22 Jake Bean 44 Vladislav Gavrikov 5 Gavin Bayreuther 53 Gabriel Carlsson 2 Andrew Peeke Starting Goalie Backup 90 Elvis Merzlikins 70 Joonas Korpisalo *subject to change
