In what was perhaps their worst game of the young season, the Columbus Blue Jackets fell to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4-1 on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.
The night began as a celebratory one, with the Blue Jackets honoring Cam Atkinson in his signing of a one-day contract to officially retire with Columbus.
But after an Ivan Provorov goal gave the Blue Jackets a bit of hope early in the second period, it was all downhill from there.
Here are the three takeaways from a game that sent the Blue Jackets to 0-2-0 in front of their home fans:
THING ONE: The Best Part Of The Night Wasn't The Game
It was all about Atkinson before the game Thursday night, and he sure did make the most of his lap before puck-drop:
Cam Atkinson has retired as a member of the @BlueJacketsNHL pic.twitter.com/LNYjGcLGTS
— NHL (@NHL) October 16, 2025
Atkinson is second in franchise history in both points and goals, trailing only Rick Nash in both. But Cam is #1 all-time in playoff points (26) and hat tricks (six), and Atkinson and Nash both have the franchise record for the most goals in a season, with each putting up 41 to share the mark.
The now officially-retired Atkinson also ranks top five in Blue Jackets history in assists (5th), power play goals (3rd), and power play points (4th).
Happy retirement, Cam!
THING TWO: Evason Says Blue Jackets Were "Soft"
"We were passive. We were soft," said head coach Dean Evason.
"We've got to play hard if we're going to win hockey games ... and we didn't play hard enough tonight in order to win."
Evason acknowledged that the Avalanche are a tough team to play against, but added that the effort wasn't good enough regardless.
"(The Avalanche have) some good players, but so do we, and that's not how we play."
The Blue Jackets were outshot 36-23 for the game and outshot in every period, had fewer takeaways, more giveaways, and lost the faceoff battle 55% to 45%. But it was the speed of the game and allowing the Avalanche to set the tone that most frustrated Evason.
"We were sitting back and waiting for them to collect speed and come after us," said Evason. "We wanted to play way more aggressive, and normally we are that team ... was it (not that way) because they were moving it before we were getting there, or our willingness to get there?"
"Our work ethic has to be way higher."
THING THREE: ...And It Could Have Been Worse.
The score was tied at 0-0 through the first period, but that was because of goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
According to NaturalStatTrick, the Avalanche had nine high-danger scoring chances in the first period — half of their 18 for the game. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, had just ten for the entire game and only three in the first frame. But Merzlikins stopped all nine of those high-danger opportunities and turned away all 12 shots faced in the first to give the Blue Jackets a little bit of hope.
After Provorov scored to give Columbus a 1-0 lead at the 1:36 mark of the second, the Avalanche scored three times before the horn sounded to close the middle frame and entered the third period down 3-1. Provorov's goal was the team's only high-danger chance of the period, compared to the six that Colorado would put in the second.
The Avalanche had 77% of the scoring chances for the frame, and 63% of them for the game.
Up Next:
Columbus concludes its three-game home stand on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Nationwide Arena at 7 p.m.
