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COLORADO AVALANCHE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16TH 7:00 P.M. NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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No doubt about it: special teams have not been going the Columbus Blue Jackets' way to start the season.
After giving up two more power play goals in Monday's 3-2 home-opener loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Blue Jackets can easily pinpoint why they're off to a 1-2-0 start the 2025-26 campaign.
But it's more than the 7-for-14 penalty kill that has caused struggles for Columbus in their first three games.
"(The) power play has struggled, so there has to be change," said Evason, eluding to the fact that the 5th Line faithful will see the power play lines shaken up for Thursday when the Blue Jackets face the Colorado Avalanche at Nationwide Arena.
Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets are back at it Thursday night:
| COL | SEASON STATS | CBJ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-0-0 | ROAD / HOME | 0-1-0 | ||
| t-14th | 3.25 | GOALS FOR | 3.33 | t-12th |
| t-3rd | 1.75 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.00 | t-13th |
| t-21st | 15.8% | POWER PLAY | 11.1% | t-25th |
| t-15th | 83.3% | PENALTY KILL | 50.0% | Last |
| 7th | 31.5 | SHOTS FOR | 34.7 | 4th |
| t-12th | 27.0 | SHOTS AGAINST | 37.3 | 31st |
| t-5th | 55.4% | FACE-OFFS | 56.5% | 4th |
| COLORADO: LAST THREE GAMES | ||||
| THU, 10/9 | vs. Mammoth | W, 2-1 | ||
| SAT, 10/11 | vs. Stars | SOL, 5-4 | ||
| MON, 10/13 | @ Sabres | W, 3-1 | ||
| COLORADO: TEAM LEADERS | ||||
| GOALS | Nathan MacKinnon | 4 | ||
| ASSISTS | Martin Necas | 5 | ||
| POINTS |
Nathan MacKinnon Martin Necas |
8 | ||
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 37% | |||
| CBJ ODDS PER BETMGM: | +135 | |||
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The COLORADO AVALANCHE are unsurprisingly off to a hot start, going 3-0-1 to start their season. They've allowed just one goal in three of their four games, and Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas are each averaging two points a game through the first week of the season; a combined 16 points through eight collective games.
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The Blue Jackets signed forward CAM ATKINSON to a one-day contract Thursday morning, allowing him to officially retire from the NHL as a Blue Jacket. In what is sure to be a special moment, the club will honor Atkinson prior to the game tonight.
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With Miles Wood out after taking a puck to the face Monday night, Thursday will be the season debut for YEGOR CHINAKHOV. The 24-year-old was a healthy scratch in the first three games but is scheduled to make his season debut on the fourth line opposite of Zach Aston-Reese and centered by Isac Lunderstrom. Chinakhov, who unofficially requested a trade over the summer, had seven goals and eight assists in a total of 30 games last season.
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After making 48 saves in his debut Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild, the Blue Jackets will start ELVIS MERZLIKINS in net. All four goals allowed by Merzlikins in the 7-4 win over the Wild came with Minnesota on the power play; Elvis was 35/35 in shots faced at even strength. Expect Merzlikins and Jet Greaves to continue to split the workload in the early parts of the season.
- Here are the complete LINEUP PROJECTIONS:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Kent Johnson | 23 | Sean Monahan | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 10 | Dmitri Voronkov | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 4 | Cole Sillinger |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 3 | Charlie Coyle | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 27 | Zach Aston-Reese | 21 | Isac Lundestrom | 59 | Yegor Chinakhov |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 9 | Ivan Provorov | 78 | Damon Severson |
| 2 | Jake Christiansen | 5 | Denton Mateychuk |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 73 | Jet Greaves |
