COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Avalanche was dominated out of the game Tuesday and, despite a stellar second period, the Columbus Blue Jackets were the better team in the third period. Final score at Nationwide Arena: 5-2 Blue Jackets. The game story is here.
Three stars:
- Nick Foligno. Two goals and an assist for the Blue Jackets’ veteran forward.
- Artemi Panarin. Columbus winger had the game-winning goal.
- Alexander Wennberg. Columbus forward didn’t have a shot but had two assists and was plus-3
What you might have missed: Second-year forward Alex Kerfoot and rookie forward Sheldon Dries each had two penalties. Dries played a team-low 7:01 and might not be in the lineup next game.
Next up: Thursday at Buffalo.
struggled from the start against Columbus, lose first game of season via
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Man-advantage. Colorado was 1-of-4 on the power play and 5-of-6 on the penalty kill. But the Blue Jackets won this comparison, enjoying 10:17 of man-advantage time; the Avs had 6:18.
Jared Bednar after 5-2 loss at Columbus
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Home vs. the road. The Avs were 15-19-7 on the road last season, a dramatic fall-off from their home record (28-11-2). Fans of the Burgundy and Blue certainly hope Tuesday’s effort was not a sign of that continuing.
Grubauer vs. Columbus. Philipp Grubauer, the Avs’ new goalie, wrote off any connection that the Blue Jackets have his number. He was the Washington Capitals’ No. 1 guy to begin the playoffs in April, but he took the losses in Games 1 and 2 and never played again in the postseason as the Caps went on to win the Stanley Cup behind goalie Braden Holtby.
“Little bit different situation, obviously a different team,” Grubauer said after Tuesday’s loss. “You can’t compare that to last year’s playoffs. We play a different style of hockey than Washington.”
