Preview: Colorado’s road trip starts in Columbus

The Avs hope to start another win streak against the struggling Blue Jackets.

The Colorado Avalanche clinched a playoff birth last week, but that doesn’t mean the work is over for them with eight games left on the schedule. They sit three points behind the Dallas Stars in the Central Division and the Western Conference with a game in hand. Columbus is on the opposite end of the NHL spectrum. They are the fourth-worst team in the NHL as the standings currently sit, which will be prime position for securing the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes. Will Colorado get their 48th win against Columbus, or are the Jackets still playing for pride?

Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar made one thing very clear during the playoff push: He’s not ultimately concerned about winning the West or the Central Division. He focuses more on getting his squad tuned up for a cup run. I say with the element of altitude, home ice will always be valuable but not compulsory. The Avs will be happy to be home more often in the cup tourney, making tonight’s seemingly weightless game an important one.

MacKinnon’s home point streak is over, but his hunt for the Hart and Art Ross Trophy is still in full flight. I’d expect him to fill the stat sheet again tonight with a point advantage over Nikita Kucherov for the most points in the NHL. Kuch and the Lightning have nine games left, with Kuch scoring roughly 1.7 points a game. He’ll finish with 141-142 points if he maintains that pace. To me, that means MacK’s magic number is 143 points. That’s 16 points in 8 games. He can do it.

Projected Lineup:

Jonathan Drouin (27) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Mikko Rantanen (96)
Arturri Lehkonen (62) — Casey Mittelstadt (37) — Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Miles Wood (28) — Ross Colton (20) — Zach Parise (9)
Brandon Duhaime (12) — Yakov Trenin (73) — Andrew Cogliano (11)

Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)
Sam Girard (49) — Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) — Sean Walker (26)

Note: Val Nichushkin has been in and out of the lineup lately, and with this not being the most competitive contest, I’d expect him to take another night off at a minimum. I wonder if he even made the trip.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Jackets aren’t a playoff team this season, but that doesn’t mean they are without talent. They did score Johnny Hockey on the open market for seven years, and he represents the nucleus of Columbus’ core. They will be positioned well in the draft even if they can’t secure the number one pick, so I think the future will be bright for the Blue Jackets. Maybe give them three or so years.

As for tonight’s game, the Jackets just snapped a seven-game losing streak with a shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. If Colorado brings their game, they shouldn’t be able to stack up with the Avalanche. If they compete, I’d expect them to implore the same strategy we saw from Montreal. It worked for Montreal for a night, but I don’t recommend sitting and waiting for this Avs team.

Projected Lineup:

JOHNNY GAUDREAU — DMITRI VORONKOV — ALEX NYLANDER
ALEXANDRE TEXIER — COLE SILLINGER — KIRILL MARCHENKO
JAMES MALATESTA — JUSTIN DANFORTH — CARSON MEYER
MIKAEL PYYHTIA — BRENDAN GAUNCE — MATHIEU OLIVIER

ZACH WERENSKI — DAMON SEVERSON
IVAN PROVOROV — JAKE BEAN
JAKE CHRISTIANSEN — ERIK GUDBRANSON

Note: Justin Danforth is a game-time decision for tonight’s contest.

Goaltenders

I’m not sure if this should be read into or not. Still, following Alexandar Georgiev’s performance and outburst against Nashville following a frustrating shootout loss to his hold squad, Jared Bednar has decided to go with Justus Annunen in the net. I think this has more to do with getting Georgie a night off than any lost confidence in him. His proving ground will be afoot come playoff time.

Daniil Tarasov is the unconfirmed starter for Columbus tonight. His objective is to steal Elvis Merslinkin’s top spot in Columbus, but that will be tough.