Thursday, October 16 – 7:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Colorado Avalanche (3-0-1, 7 points, 1st Central, 1st West)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (1-2-0, 2 points, 7th Metro, 13th East)
Player to Watch
Cam Atkinson
No, he’s not actually playing in the game, but we’ll see that #13 on the ice once again during warmups and pregame. Cam signed a one-day contract this morning to officially retire as a Blue Jacket. Congrats to Cam for a great NHL career, and an established legacy as one of the greats in franchise history. For more trips down memory lane, let’s revisit Dale’s tribute as part of our 20th anniversary coverage.
Jackets Notes
Erik Gudbranson remains out with an upper body injury, and now Miles Wood joins him on the injured list. Wood’s eye injury isn’t expected to keep him out for long, but he’ll miss a few games so he can let things heal … Yegor Chinakhov will make his season debut in Wood’s place. Not ideal to start on the fourth line, but he has to do what he can there to prove he deserves to move up … The left wings in the top 9 were shuffled. I don’t like breaking up the top line, but I feel like the new lines give more balance … Elvis Merzlikins gets the start in net, so the goalie rotation continues. Seems to be working ok?
The Other Bench
Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog will be playing his first game against Columbus in nearly four years. The last time was November 3 and 6, 2021, when the teams played back-to-back games and Columbus won both. Yes, THAT Blue Jackets team swept the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
Anyway, glad to see a guy like Landeskog able to return to play after a major injury and a very long recovery process.
Season Series
10/16/2025 COL @ CBJ
01/10/2026 CBJ @ COL
Stats
| Colorado | Columbus | |
| 3.25 (14) | GPG | 3.33 (12) |
| 1.75 (3) | GAPG | 3.00 (13) |
| 15.8 (21) | PP% | 11.1 (25) |
| 83.3 (15) | PK% | 50.0 (32) |
| 51.7 (11) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 49.7 (19) |
| 51.0 (15) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.4 (21) |
| 9.7 (15) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.0 (14) |
| 93.7 (5) | 5v5 Save % | 98.7 (1) |
| Nathan MacKinnon (4) | G Leader | Kirill Marchenko (4) |
| Martin Necas (5) | A Leader | B. Jenner, Z. Werenski, D. Voronkov, I. Provorov (2) |
| N. MacKinnon, M. Necas (8) | P Leader | K. Marchenko, D. Voronkov (4) |
| Josh Manson (11) | PIM Leader | E. Gudbranson, D. Voronkov (4) |
| 2-0-0 | Home/Road | 0-1-0 |
| 3-1-0 | Last 10 | 1-2-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Kent Johnson | Sean Monahan | Kirill Marchenko |
| Dmitri Voronkov | Adam Fantilli | Cole Sillinger |
| Boone Jenner | Charlie Coyle | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Isac Lundestrom | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
| Ivan Provorov | Damon Severson |
| Jake Christiansen | Denton Mateychuk |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Jet Greaves |
Colorado Avalanche
| Artturi Lehkonen | Nathan MacKinnon | Martin Necas |
| Gabriel Landeskog | Brock Nelson | Valeri Nichushkin |
| Ross Colton | Jack Drury | Victor Olofsson |
| Joel Kiviranta | Parker Kelly | Gavin Brindley |
| Devon Toews | Cale Makar |
| Josh Manson | Brent Burns |
| Ilya Solovyov | Sam Malinski |
| Scott Wedgewood |
| Trent Miner |