Travel issues for Colorado hindered their travel, could the Jackets jump on them early?
First Period
Columbus did get a chance almost immediately in this game, but Colorado struck first when MacKinnon did MacKinnon things and beat Elvis five hole.
AVS Goal 0-1 Mackinnon (Lehkonen, Toews) 3:25
Jackets responded well, and not long after the opening goal, a Fabbro shot bounced off a net front Monahan and onto his stick before he placed it into the twine.
CBJ Goal 1-1 Monahan (Fabbro, Voronkov) 6:35
Play continued at an open, back and forth affair for the remainder of the period with Columbus certainly holding their own. Unfortunately, late in the period the 4th line turned it over in the o zone and Colorado demonstrated the strength of their rush game. After a clean break out and zone entry, the forwards drew the entire Columbus 4th line and d pair deep in the zone. The trailing Makar walked into an uncontested point shot creating a rebound for Nelson to finish.
AVS Goal 1-2 Nelson (Makar, Toews) 18:05
Per NST at 5v5 the shots were even at 10 a piece, but Colorado had double the scoring chances and nearly double the expected goals 1.4 to 0.8.
Second Period
Terrific start to the second when ZAR throw a puck on net from a terrible angle surprising Blackwood and finding his first goal since November.
CBJ Goal 2-2 ZAR (Olivier) 4:16
A good forecheck created a neutral zone turnover that led to a Jack Johnson shot from up high. The heavy shot was mishandled by Blackwood and created a chance for the captain to continue his strong scoring pace.
CBJ Goal 3-2 Jenner (Johnson, Johnson) 7:56
It looked like Columbus had started to crack the Avalanche netminder with a few uncomfortable moments at this point in the period and might be able to build a lead. It turned out that Elvis would be the goalie to crack.
More good puck movement from Colorado ended with Coyle moving into the right faceoff circle. Elvis appeared to have time to square to him but he didn’t find his mark, and Coyle did, to tie the game.
AVS Goal 3-3 Coyle (Wood, Johnson) 12:39
Ninety seconds later, a simple zone entry drop pass set up an unscreened shot from high in the zone that got through Elvis to restore the Colorado lead.
AVS Goal 3-4 Kelly (Drury) 14:02
Special teams continues to be a pivotal part of the lack luster playoff chase here to end the season. Columbus had a late power play chance they could not convert on, followed quickly by a Colorado power play. Kunin decided he would attempt to skate with MacKinnon high in the zone and got smoked. A nice sequence was finished with a great Makar one timer for his 30th goal of the season, the first defenseman since Mike Green to do so.
AVS Goal 3-5 PPG Makar (MacKinnon, Coyle) 2:30
Third Period
The Blue Jackets have largely been a feisty team at home when trailing, but any hope was quashed early. 4 minutes into the period Devon Toews placed a wicked shot off the post and in created from a set play after a faceoff win.
AVS Goal 3-6 Devon Toews (Makar, MacKinnon) 4:01
Less than two minutes later the Avalanche got the puck down low on an entry followed by Coyle winning a board battle with Mateychuk. A quick feed to the net front set Miles Wood up for a nice top-shelf finish to give Colorado their seventh of the night.
AVS Goal 3-7 Wood (Coyle) 5:49
Elvis slammed his stick against the iron following this one and went to the bench to get a new stick. Instead of a new stick, we got a new goalie as Tarasov replaced Elvis for the first goalie pull of the season.
Not much else happened in this one to close it out. Fairly even possession at 5v5 in the third, with the edge in xG at 5v5 to Colorado 0.9-0.56
Final Thoughts
Colorado has done a masterful job retooling their roster on the fly this season with bringing in two new goaltenders, changing up the d pairs, and adding Brock Nelson down the middle. Marty Necas did not play tonight and they still showed how far Columbus has to go to be a real threat.
An ok night from most of the forwards in this game. Boone and Monahan continue to score at some of the best rates in the league at 5v5 and Marchenko was active all over the ice. The 4th line got in on the scoreboard but without some powerplay scoring this team will struggle to outscore its defensive issues.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that there will need to be some changes to the back end in the offseason, and Mateychuk definitely has some learning to do. The bottom four had a rough night that was compounded by some uninspired goaltending from Elvis. Merzlikins has done an admirable job most of the year and did his best to keep the team competitive while heavily injured, but the wheels have come off a bit of late.
Up Next
Columbus travels to Toronto to take on the Atlantic Division leader Maple Leafs Saturday at 7pm