Columbus Blue Jackets (0-1-0) @ Colorado Avalanche (0-1-0)
7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude Sports | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
In their home opener on Saturday, the Avalanche will look to bounce back against the Blue Jackets. This will be the first of two interconference meetings between the clubs, as the Avalanche will travel to Columbus on April 3. Both teams are fighting for their first win of the season.
Latest Results: October 9, 2024: COL 4, VGK 8
October 10, 2024: CBJ 2, MIN 3
Avalanche @ Golden Knights 10.09.24 Recap
In their season opener, the Avalanche fell 8-4 to the Golden Knights on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena. Mikko Rantanen opened the scoring in the first period and would net his eighth-career hat trick during the game, while Casey Mittelstadt posted the third of four Colorado goals. For Vegas, Ivan Barbashev and Victor Olofsson each scored a pair of goals while Zach Whitecloud, Mark Stone, and Brett Howden all added a goal.
Avs Accomplishments
With his two assists on Wednesday, Nathan MacKinnon registered the 900th and 901st points of his career. In 792 games, MacKinnon has posted 335 goals and 566 assists and is 45 points from tying Michel Goulet for 3rd place on the Avalanche/Nordiques all-time scoring list.
Recording a pair of assists in the season opener, Samuel Girard recorded the 200th and 201st points of his career. He has registered 31 goals and 170 assists in 476 games.
History
The Avalanche are 43-18-6 all time against the Blue Jackets, including 23-9-2 at home. The teams split the season series in 2023-24, with each club defending home ice. The Avalanche won 6-1 on March 22 and the Blue Jackets won 4-1 on April 1.
Where the Wild Things Are
Like the Avalanche, the Blue Jackets lost their season opener on the road, falling 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy opened the scoring at 17:51 of the first period before Kent Johnson evened the score for Columbus at 2:00 of the second period. The next two goals were Minnesota’s, courtesy of Joel Eriksson Ek at 16:35 of the second period and Mats Zuccarello on the power play at 9:58 of the third period. Zach Werenski cut the Minnesota lead in half with a power-play goal at 17:06, but the Wild emerged victorious.
Columbus-Colorado Connections
There are members of each of these organizations that have spent time with the other. Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson played 179 regular-season games and 27 games for the Avalanche, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. On the other side, Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland worked for the Blue Jackets for 14 seasons, serving as the team’s director of hockey operations from 2000-2007 and assistant general manager from 2007-2015. Additionally, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar spent four seasons coaching in the Blue Jackets organization, spending 2012-14 as an assistant coach and 2014-16 as the head coach for their AHL affiliates, the Springfield Falcons and Lake Erie Monsters.
Stats To Know
MacKinnon has posted 21 points (5g/16a) in 19 contests against Columbus in his career.
Rantanen leads the Avalanche with three points (3g) while Cale Makar (2a), Samuel Girard (2a), and MacKinnon (2a) are in a three-way tie for second with two points.
The Avalanche posted the league’s best home record in 2023-24, going 31-9-1.
Columbus by the Numbers
Kent Johnson leads the Blue Jackets with two points (1g/1a) while Werenski (1g), Damon Severson (1a), Yegor Chinakhov (1a), and Cole Sillinger (1a) are tied for second with one point.
Numbers Game
4
With his eighth-career hat trick on Wednesday, Rantanen moved into 4th place in Avalanche/Nordiques history for most hat tricks, passing MacKinnon. He now trails Goulet (13 hat tricks) for 3rd place.
3
Mittelstadt enters Saturday’s contest three points shy of 200 for his career. In 358 games, he’s posted 67 goals and 130 assists.
2
A pair of Avalanche players took their rookie lap in Las Vegas on Wednesday as Calum Ritchie and Ivan Ivan made their NHL debuts. Additionally, Nikolai Kovalenko made his regular-season debut for the Avalanche on Wednesday. He appeared in a pair of Playoff games for Colorado in 2023-24.
Quote That Left a Mark
“Every guy that’s missing makes the job more difficult. But it forces our team to dig in on the details and the commitment side of the game right away.”
- Bednar on the team dealing with the absence of Jonathan Drouin, who is out with an upper-body injury
