Monahan, Marchenko help Blue Jackets hold off Avalanche

DENVER -- Sean Monahan, Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov each had a goal and two assists, and the Columbus Blue Jackets held on for a 6-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Adam Fantilli, Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson also scored for the Blue Jackets (1-1-0), and Daniil Tarasov made 26 saves in his first start of the season.

“It's obviously nice to keep a lead, but to not sit back and just defend was exciting for us as a staff,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said. “We stayed aggressive. We didn't risk a whole lot, but we didn't shut down and just go into a shell and just try to defend and block shots. Our guys still played the game the right way.”

Nathan MacKinnon and Ross Colton each had a goal and an assist, and Cale Makar had two assists for the Avalanche (0-2-0). Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on nine shots before being replaced by Justus Annunen at 1:56 of the second period. Annunen stopped 11 of 13 shots in relief.

It was the second straight game Georgiev was pulled. He was replaced to begin the third period after allowing five goals on 16 shots in Colorado’s 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

“I get that there's a level of frustration, but [Georgiev], he's our guy. He's our starter,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I have full faith that he has the ability, the talent, the work ethic to bounce back and win us hockey games. It's a mental game right now."

Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 6:38 of the first period when he tapped in a centering pass from Chinakhov on a 2-on-1 at the top of the crease.

Johnson extended it to 2-0 at 7:45 after he cut down around the right face-off circle and scored with a snap shot short side over the shoulder of Georgiev.

“To be honest, it's emotional. It's nice. I mean, it's nice to get our first win,” Monahan said. “You feel the love from this organization. I feel the love from my teammates, and obviously I can feel the love from [Johnny Gaudreau].”

MacKinnon cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 19:52, locating a rebound off Tarasov’s pad and burying a slap shot.

“It's frustrating because you go to work in camp and you want to have a good start to the season,” Bednar said. “You do. You don't want to be digging holes and then trying to climb out of them, but it's a long year. Everyone wants to come out, put on a good show, play to their best ability in front of our fans. All understandable, but it felt like we had a whole season on our shoulders and we're four periods into the season."

Fantilli pushed it 3-1 at 1:56 of the second period. He took the puck down around the right face-off dot and scored five-hole with a wrist shot.

Miles Wood responded just 15 seconds later with one-timer off a pass from Parker Kelly to cut it to 3-2.

Casey Mittelstadt tied it 3-3 at 3:42 on the power play. He scored with a backhand after Makar’s point shot was deflected by Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson.

"We got leaders and accrued leaders that have won, and it stings in here when we lose. We're not used to it,” Colorado defenseman Devon Toews said. “It’s something that we don't like to do. We hate losing more than anything. So, if we're able to learn and move on and trust the process of getting better every day, we'll come out on top.”

Marchenko put the Blue Jackets back ahead 4-3 at 4:33 with a one-timer from the right circle that caromed in off the leg of Annunen.

“I think we just feel synergy a little bit, and we talk a lot on the ice and off ice, too,” Marchenko said of his line. “We just try to communicate and find a good way for all [of] us three.”

Chinakhov made it 5-3 at 9:49 with another shot that went in off Annunen.

Colton cut it to 5-4 at 18:40 of the third period on a one-timer in front.

Monahan scored a power-play goal into an empty net with 12 seconds remaining for the 6-4 final.

“I think [it's a] good thing, good feeling for us, because we have all four lines [that] can score,” Marchenko said. “We have a lot of moments if we will score, like every line every night, we will win, for sure.”

NOTES: Werenski and Johnson became the eighth and ninth players in Blue Jackets history to score in each of the first two games of a season. It is the second time multiple players have achieved the feat in the same season for Columbus (Cam Atkinson and Artem Anisimov in 2014-15). … Avalanche forward Ivan Ivan had the primary assist on MacKinnon’s goal for his first NHL point.