Behind dominant performances from Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Blue Jackets 6-1 on Friday at Ball Arena in Denver.
1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
---|---|---|---|---|
BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
COL AVALANCHE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
1st Period
Damon Severson opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 4:28 from the left doorstep thanks to an incredible feed from Johnny Gaudreau.
Makar tied the game at 11:00 on the rush with a right-circle wrist shot, finishing off a tic-tac-toe sequence from Artturi Lehkonen.
Makar nearly scored his second of the game at 17:54 when his point shot on the power play hit the post.
After that power play expired, Alex Nylander exited the box and hit the crossbar on the rush at 19:00.
The two teams were tied after 20 minutes with Colorado outshooting Columbus 14-5.
2nd Period
Ross Colton gave Colorado the lead at 5:43 after stuffing home Zach Parise's right-circle shot.
Rantanen doubled Colorado's lead at 7:07 with a fantastic deflection on Josh Manson's right-point wrist shot.
Casey Mittelstadt had a golden opportunity to give Colorado a three-goal lead with a shot from the right doorstep but Elvis Merzlikins made a great save at 16:18.
The Avalanche led 3-1 after 40 minutes and took a 37-12 advantage in shots on goal into the third period.
3rd Period
MacKinnon made it 4-1 Colorado on a breakaway at 6:01 after Makar took the puck from Alexandre Texier and found MacKinnon up the ice.
Rantanen scored his second of the game on the power play at 7:14 with a right-circle snapshot off a cross-ice feed from MacKinnon.
Valeri Nichushkin gave Colorado a 6-1 lead at 13:38 off the rush after making a nice move around Zach Werenski to drive to the net.
With the 6-1 loss, the Blue Jackets fall to 23-35-12.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: CBJ 24-50 COL
- Face-off %: CBJ 43.8-56.2 COL
- Power play: CBJ 0/0-1/3 COL
- Giveaways: CBJ 2-9 COL
- Takeaways: CBJ 16-15 COL
- Blocked shots: CBJ 24-11 COL
- Hits: CBJ 18-26 COL
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5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): CBJ 1.92-4.63 COL
- Shot Attempts (CF): CBJ 50-81 COL
- Shots on Goal (SF): CBJ 24-43 COL
- Scoring Chances (SCF): CBJ 20-49 COL
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): CBJ 6-24 COL
Injury Update
- Adam Boqvist is out with an upper-body injury sustained on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. There is no timetable for his return.
- Sean Kuraly is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained on Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
- Yegor Chinakhov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury he suffered during Tuesday's against the Canadiens.
- Justin Danforth suffered a concussion on Mar. 7. There is no timetable for his return.
- Kent Johnson has been placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. He underwent successful surgery on March 7 and is expected to make a full recovery in six months.
- Patrik Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28 and will be away from the team indefinitely.
- Adam Fantilli suffered a calf laceration on Jan. 28 and is expected to miss eight weeks.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets are right back at it on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights at 10:30 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
They'll continue their road trip in Arizona on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.