Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 pm)
Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images
It’s a Colorado Avalanche Gameday! The Avs are humming along heading into this five-game homestand. Winners of seven consecutive games, the Colorado Avalanche have an opportunity to continue to rack up the win column against a Blue Jackets team that has struggled immensely this season.
Currently in a three-way tie atop the Central Division with the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars at 93 points, Colorado has a chance to reclaim the lone spot in first place tonight. The Jets lost in regulation to the New Jersey Devils last night, and now have an identical record to the Avalanche.
Winnipeg holds the tiebreaker, but a win tonight for the Avs is more pressure on the Jets, who square off against the New York Islanders on the road for a matinee affair on Saturday. The Dallas Stars, who have 70 games played to the Avs and Jets 69, face the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice tonight. Go Sid!
Nathan MacKinnon, who is currently riding a 16-game point streak underneath his 32 game home point streak, sits five points behind Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov for the NHL scoring lead with 122 points. MacKinnon and the Avs will continue to stick to the formula that has always made them successful; one game at a time, but if the streak withstands through this homestand, he’ll be knocking on the door of history.
Mikko Rantanen, coming off of a hat trick performance against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, is also scorching hot coming into tonight’s game. With points in 12 of his last 14 games, he’s found his offensive groove at the right time, as the Avs look to propel MacKinnon to his first Art Ross and Hart trophies.
Alexandar Georgiev will get the nod in net tonight for the Avs. He’s also playing really good hockey right now. In his last five starts, he’s 4-1-0 with a .919 SV% and a 2.35 GAA. He’ll be looking for fifth consecutive win tonight, and his 36th on the season.
Projected Lines:
Valeri Nichushkin (13) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Mikko Rantanen (96)
Artturi Lehkonen (62) - Casey Mittelstadt (37) - Jonathan Drouin
Brandon Duhaime (12) - Ross Colton (20) - Zach Parise (9)
Miles Wood (28) - Yakov Trenin (73) - Andrew Cogliano (11)
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) - Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) - Sean Walker (26)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Justus Annunen (60)
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