Columbus Blue Jackets vs Colorado Avalanche
Saturday, November 6, 2021 – 7:00 PM EDT
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally Sports Ohio – Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Mile High Hockey
Colorado Avalanche, 4-4-1, 9 points, 6th Central, 11th West
@
Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-3-0, 12 points, 5th Metro, 7th East
The surprise starts of both teams continued on Wednesday night when the Blue Jackets defeated the Avalanche in overtime. The same teams will finish of the home-and-home series tonight at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets are 4-1-0 at home so far this season and are looking to continue that trend as they settle in for a 10 day, 4 game homestand.
Patrik Laine left the bench in the third period on Wednesday night. It was announced Friday morning that he suffered an oblique strain and will miss the next four to six weeks. That is unfortunate news for the Finn, who was having a great start to the season. He is currently second on the team in scoring with a 3-7-10 scoresheet.
As a result of the Laine injury, Yegor Chinakhov will get his best chance yet to prove he belongs in the NHL. As of Friday morning, it appears that Chinakhov will be starting on the top line alongside Cole Sillinger and Jakub Voracek. Kevin Stenlund will draw in on the third line.
Also of note, Cole Sillinger will be playing his tenth game of the season. That means his entry level contract fully kicks in and he’s one year closer to a new deal. He’ll have to surpass the 40 game mark to inch himself closer to UFA status, but he’s earned every bit of both so far. Cole made another large stride in the last game by scoring two goals, playing well defensively against a good team, and ultimately earning his way to the number one center spot.
Player to Watch
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Bjorkstrand quietly earned another two assists in Wednesday night’s win and improved to 4-8-12 in 9 games. For a historically slow starter, the Dane has been on fire to start the season. He’s currently tied for 9th in the league in scoring and leads the team in both CF% and xGF% at 5v5. The with-or-without-you chart for Bjorkstrand, courtesy of HockeyViz, shows that he is consistent no matter who he’s on the ice with and makes whoever he’s on the ice with better.
Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are off to a slow start, but don’t expect it to stay that way. They will eventually start to figure things out and become the dangerous team they are known to be. Tonight could be a step in the right direction for them as Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky are both expected to return from injury. The Blue Jackets will face the tough challenge of holding back a hungry and reinforced Avalanche lineup.
Season Series
11/03/2021 – CBJ 5 @ COL 4 OT
11/06/2021 – COL @ CBJ
Stats
| Colorado | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.00 (11) | GPG | 3.00 (11) |
| 3.56 (27) | GAPG | 2.89 (17) |
| 11.8% (29) | PP% | 25.0% (10) |
| 81.8% (16) | PK% | 80.0% (20) |
| 50.19% (15) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.66% (20) |
| 48.67% (20) | 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % | 47.45% (23) |
| 7.41 (15) | 5v5 Shooting % | 7.77 (13) |
| .906 (29) | 5v5 Save % | .936 (8) |
| JT Compher, 5 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 6 |
| Nathan MacKinnon, 9 | A Leader | Jakub Voracek, 9 |
| MacKinnon & Landeskog, 10 | P Leader | Oliver Bjorkstrand, 12 |
| Nazem Kadri, 24 | PIM Leader | Jakub Voracek, Cole Sillinger, 10 |
| 2-2-0 | Home / Road | 4-1-0 |
| 4-4-1 | Last 10 | 6-3-0 |
Projected Lineups
| Yegor Chinakhov | Cole Sillinger | Jakub Voracek |
| Gustav Nyquist | Boone Jenner | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Gregory Hofmann | Jack Roslovic | Kevin Stenlund |
| Eric Robinson | Sean Kuraly | Alexandre Texier |
| Zach Werenski | Jake Bean |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Gavin Bayreuther |
| Gabriel Carlsson | Andrew Peeke |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Gabriel Landeskog | Nathan MacKinnon | Mikko Rantanen |
| Andre Burakovsky | Nazem Kadri | J.T. Compher |
| Sampo Ranta | Tyson Jost | Logan O’Connor |
| Darren Helm | Jayson Megna | Kiefer Sherwood |
| Jack Johnson | Bowen Byram |
| Erik Johnson | Ryan Murray |
| Samuel Girard | Devon Toews |
| Darcy Kuemper |
| Jonas Johannsson |