Game Preview: Blue Jackets Welcome MacKinnon, Avalanche To Nationwide Arena For The First Time Since 2021

COLORADO AVALANCHE

47-21-6 (100 pts; .676%) 2nd, Central Division ROSTER SCHEDULE

7:00 P.M. – MONDAY, APRIL 1 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH

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

For the first time in since 2021, the Colorado Avalanche will visit Nationwide Arena on Monday night to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The teams have met just once this season — a decisive 6-1 Avalanche victory in Colorado on just over a week ago. They met twice in 2022-23, with the Avs winning both games of a set in Tampere, Finland. The Avs were in Columbus early in the 2021-22 season, providing a long drought between seeing Jared Bednar's club in the Buckeye State.

Columbus is coming off a shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd, stopping their six-game losing streak. The Avalanche, meanwhile, scored seven goals against Nashville on Saturday to give them a 7-4 win to halt a brief two-game losing streak.

Here's what else to know when Colorado and Columbus face-off in a battle of Col's: 

TALKING POINTS: AVS

• This is a critical game for the Avalanche, who are three points behind Dallas for 1st place atop the Central Division with one fewer game played. 
   
• In their first meeting against Columbus, the Avalanche fired off 51 shots on goal — third most in a game this season from them. They've also topped 40 shots in each of their last two games. Columbus allows 33.8 shots per game, second worst in the league, and the Avs are tied for 4th with just over 33 shots per game. All of that to say this: The Avalanche are going to get the puck on the net.
   
• The Nathan MacKinnon show is now at the top of the league. MacKinnon passed Nikita Kucherov over the weekend and now leads the NHL with 127 points. The 80 assists are even more impressive considering that 43 of them are of the primary variety.

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• With just eight games left on the schedule, this final stretch is all about the play of young players. It doesn't look like Adam Fantilli is going to make it back into the lineup after a calf laceration in late January has healed slower than expected, but a strong end to the season for guys like Dmitri Voronkov and Cole Sillinger can help the set a positive tone for what is shaping up to be a critical offseason.
   
• Mathieu Olivier has goals in back-to-back games for the first time as a Blue Jacket and is really beginning to carve out a name for himself as a fan favorite at Nationwide Arena. His willingness to drop the gloves, improved offensive game, and candidness in discussing the team's play have not gone unnoticed.
   
• Projected lines are as followed and based off Saturday's game. Jet Greaves was added to the roster Sunday from Cleveland in the event that Elvis Merzlikins is unable to play. Merzlikins missed practice Sunday, with head coach Pascal Vincent calling it a "maintenance day". In either event, it would seem that Daniil Tarasov is in line for the start at goalie.