News Avalanche Team Notes

[Colorado Avalanche]

Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Ottawa Senators (7:00 p.m.)

The Avalanche have lost two consecutive contests for the first time since their four-game slide back in October and have lost straight in regulation for the first time all season ahead of tonight’s showdown with the Ottawa Senators. This will mark the beginning of a 7-game homestand for the Avalanche, who look to get back into the win column in front of home fans yet again, where they have amassed a 14-game point streak. Will the streak continue, or does this Senators team have what it takes to end the run?

Colorado Avalanche: 31-4-7​

The Opponent: Ottawa Senators 20-17-5

Time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, ESPN+

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche​

The Avalanche can pretty quickly sum up why things went wrong on their most recent road trip. They saw four different players go down with injury in a matter of a week, including their starting netminder, captain, and top-pairing defenseman. Throw in a back-to-back where you start Scott Wedgewood in both games, and you have a recipe for disaster.

In truth, the Avalanche can afford to drop a few games as they still have a strong hold on the division, with the Dallas Stars nine points back with two games in hand. Moreover, the Avalanche can afford 8 more losses before the end of the season and still tie Boston’s wins record from 2022-23.

The #Avs can only lose eight more games (in regulation) this season if they want to tie the #Bruins 2022-23 wins record.#GoAvsGo | @MileHighHockey

— Adrian Hernandez (@AdoHernandez27) January 8, 2026

Keep a watchful eye on the power play this evening, with much of the discourse around this team centered on a group that is really good at 5-on-5 but laughably unsuccessful on the man advantage. At some point, the talent on the ice needs to make its mark, and I’ve been calling for progression to the mean, but in fairness, I’ve been calling for it for about a month now, and still, the power play unit looks as stale as the bag of chips your college roommate left in the pantry over winter break.

Projected Lineup:​

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
[URL='https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/valeri-nichushkin/2142']Valeri Nichushkin[/URL] — Brock Nelson — [URL='https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/gavin-brindley/33176']Gavin Brindley[/URL]
Ross Colton — Jack Drury — Victor Olofsson
Ivan Ivan — Parker Kelly — Zakhar Bardakov

Samuel Girard — Cale Makar
Josh Manson — Brent Burns
Ilya Solovyov — Sam Malinski

Scott Wedgewood
Trent Miner

Ottawa Senators​

Ottawa Senators fans might be looking at this contest as a scheduled loss, as the Senators fell to the Utah Mammoth less than 24 hours ago. I have written plenty about the adverse effects of playing at altitude, and once again remind our MHH doctors that the second and third nights at altitude always hit harder.

All that said, I think this is shaping up more like a trap game to me. The Avalanche haven’t lost many games this season, but a large majority of said defeats have come at the hands of Eastern Conference foes. The Sens may be last in their division, but in the East, the standings are way tighter. To put things into perspective, Ottawa is just 10 points out of first place and last in their division. One point more than the gap between Colorado and Dallas at the top of the Central Division.

One of seven at home.

: https://t.co/570rgMFifn pic.twitter.com/6RTDXybBWt

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 8, 2026

Projected Lineup:​

Fabian Zetterlund — Tim Stützle — Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk — Dylan Cozens — Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins — Stephen Halliday — David Perron

Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence

Linus Ullmark
Leevi Meriläinen

Follow along in the comments below!

Source: https://www.milehighhockey.com/open...colorado-avalanche-vs-ottawa-senators-700-p-m

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Recap: Trent Miner shuts out Blue Jackets 4-0

A drubbing of the Ottawa Senators kicked off this seven-game home stand and the Colorado Avalanche hoped to keep the train rolling against another eastern conference foe in the Columbus Blue Jackets. As expected the Avalanche took care of business in a routine 4-0 shutout victory.

Multiple Avalanche got on the score sheet including goals from Brent Burns, Victor Olofsson, Ilya Solovyov.

It was a game of firsts as Solovyov scored his first career NHL goal. Trent Miner picked up his first NHL win and shutout making 29 saves for Colorado.

The Game

It was a cautious start for both teams to begin this matinee affair. However, following a failed Avalanche power play, Colorado’s depth decided to take matters into their own hands scoring two quick goals. The first from Brent Burns pinching down into the slot to ram home a rebound. Then following a wall battle Victor Olofsson took the puck to the front of the net and crafted a backhand shot which went past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins. After the first period it was a tidy 2-0 lead for Colorado.

Adding to the scoresheet in the second period was Ilya Solovyov’s first career NHL goal at the midpoint. He walked into an ocean of space the Blue Jackets gave him and rifled the puck into the net. After 40 minutes of play Colorado held a commanding 3-0 lead.

The third period was rather uneventful other than another failed Avalanche power play and Burns scoring his second goal of the game on a puck that deflected off several Blue Jacket players. Columbus did not vacate the net for the extra attacker so the score remained 4-0 at the final horn.

Takeaways

This game was a good time for increased trade deadline scouts in the building as not a single top Avalanche player scored a point in this game. Burns led the way with two goals but Olofsson picked up two points (his first bit of production in 12 games), Gavin Brindley had two assists, the aforementioned Solovyov goal, Ross Colton extended his point streak to two games and even an assist for Zakhar Bardakov. That truly is winning the game with depth and likely some depth the Avalanche hope to upgrade on in the coming months.

After snubbing Trent Miner the previous weekend it was good to see him get the start and even better to witness his 29 save shutout. Miner was cool, calm and collected in net as he always is and made it look easy. Hopefully that buys him a little more trust moving forward.

Upcoming

The Avalanche welcome the always spotlighted Toronto Maple Leafs to town on Monday night at 8 p.m. MT.

Source: https://www.milehighhockey.com/colo.../recap-trent-miner-shuts-out-blue-jackets-4-0

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Open Thread: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Colorado Avalanche (2:00 P.M.)

The talk of home ice being an advantage, is very real if you’re the Colorado Avalanche, where home ice has been an advantage all season.

The best team in hockey will put that advantage to work as they face the Columbus Blue Jackets in their first afternoon matinee of 2026 at Ball Arena.

Colorado Avalanche (32-4-7)​

The Opponent: Columbus Blue Jackets (18-18-7)

Time: 2:00 P.M. MST/4:00 P.M. EST

Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Broadcast Area), FDSNOH, ESPN+, NHL Center Ice (Outside Avalanche Broadcast Area – US), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Canadian Broadcast Areas)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche​

The Avalanche kicked off a season-long seven game home stand on Thursday night against a struggling (and perhaps somewhat distracted) Ottawa Senators club that was twenty-four hours removed from a 3-1 defeat in Salt Lake City against the Utah Mammoth. After staking a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Avalanche opened the floodgates, scoring five goals over a 6:18 span during the second period as they sailed to a 8-2 victory.

Two Avalanche players turned in four point efforts on Thursday. If you thought one of them was Nathan MacKinnon, you’d be correct: the NHL’s leading goal-scorer notched his 36th goal of the season and added three assists on the evening, which propelled him back into the League lead in total points (78). Josh Manson was the other Avalanche skater with a four point night, scoring two goals and two assists, which set a new single-game career high. Factor in Manson’s fight with Ottawa’s Tyler Klevin in the first period, and that results in Manson’s first-ever Gordie Howe hat trick, a feat that his father, Dave Manson, was on hand to witness firsthand.

Both Martin Nečas and Brock Nelson scored on the power play (no, this is not a typo), both reaching the twenty-goal mark (Nelson would add another one to end the second goal rally). Ross Colton, who was playing through illness, had a three point night. Cale Makar had a goal and two assists to remain atop the League lead in points for defensemen (51), and Scott Wedgewood earned his nineteenth win of the season, stopping 29 of 31 shots.

In total, twelve(!) Avalanche skaters recorded points on Thursday evening, securing the team’s sixteenth consecutive win on Ball Arena ice. The win pushed the Avalanche past the 70 point mark as they remain the undisputed leader in across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings.

Today’s game wraps up the season series against Columbus. The Avalanche previously defeated Columbus by a score of 4-1 at Nationwide Arena on October 16th.

Projected Lineup​

Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gavin Brindley – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Victor Olofsson – Jack Drury – Ross Colton
Zakhar Bardakov – Parker Kelly – TJ Tynan

Defense:
Cale Makar – Sam Girard
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Ilya Solovyov – Sam Malinski

Between the Pipes:
Scott Wedgewood
Trent Miner

Columbus Blue Jackets​

Today is the third of a four game road trip for Columbus, and the first of a back-to-back weekend of games. Having lost four of their last five games, including a 5-3 decision against Vegas this past Thursday at T-Mobile Arena, Columbus sits in the cellar of the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference as a whole. Injuries have riddled the Columbus roster, with several pieces of the lineup missing time.

Defenseman Erik Gudbranson has missed most of the season with a hip injury. Defenseman Brendan Smith, who signed in November with Columbus to help shore up the blue line, is expected to be out of the lineup until April with a knee injury.

At forward, a couple of faces familiar to Avs fans will be out of the lineup today. Miles Wood, who was traded with Charlie Coyle to Columbus on June 27 in the Gavin Brindley deal, has missed already stretches of time during his first season with Columbus, and is currently sidelined with a leg injury. Mason Marchment, whom the Avs last saw as a member of the Seattle Kraken back on December 16 when Josh Manson punched Marchment’s face ticket out of town (no, really: Marchment was traded to Columbus the very next day), will be out of the lineup due an upper body injury he sustained this past Sunday in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins; he is considered week-to-week. Rounding out the wounded on the forward lines is center Isac Lundeström, who is out with a lower body injury; he last saw action on December 22 in a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Due to the compact standings in the East, Columbus sits eight points back of the final wild card spot (hey, if the Buffalo Sabres can make a push for the playoffs after languishing in last place for so long, Columbus can do the same). Prior to losing to the Avalanche in October, Columbus previously enjoyed a two-game win streak against Colorado, outscoring the Avalanche by a 10-5 margin in those games. The most recent of those victories came at Ball Arena on October 16, 2024 (a 6-4 decision).

Defenseman Zach Werenski, perennial bridesmaid to Cale Makar’s bride in Norris Trophy conversations, currently leads the Columbus roster in goals (16, a mark he shares with right wing Kirill Marchenko), assists (30), and points (46). His goal total is tops among all NHL defensemen (Makar is third with 13). In addition to leading all Columbus forwards in goals, Marchenko also leads all forwards in points (35) and is tied with Coyle for the team lead in assists (19).

With goaltender Jet Greaves making the last four starts for Columbus, expect Elvis Merzlikins to get the call between the pipes today. He last saw action on December 20, a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Projected Lineup​

Forwards:
Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner – Sean Monahan – Kent Johnson
Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese – Brendan Gaunce – Mikael Pyyhtiä

Defense:
Zach Werenski – Denton Mateychuk
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Yegor Zamula – Dante Fabbro

Between the Pipes:
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves

Follow along in the comments below!

Source: https://www.milehighhockey.com/open...umbus-blue-jackets-colorado-avalanche-200-p-m