ST. LOUIS (AP) Nathan MacKinnon thought back to the Colorado Avalanche’s struggles last season and couldn’t help but chuckle.”We were out of the (playoff chase) with 30 games left
Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys ,” he said.Thanks in part to MacKinnon, it’s a much different story this season.MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 44 shots and the Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Thursday night.Mikko Rantanen also scored twice and Gabriel Landeskog had three assists to help the Avalanche win their third straight to move into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of idle Dallas – and five ahead of St. Louis. The Avalanche, who won 10 in a row from Dec. 29-Jan. 22, are 6-0-3 in their last nine games.”Right now every point matters, every point counts,” Varlamov said. ”Every game is like a playoff for us. This feels great just to be part of this.”Colorado finished with an NHL-worst 48 points last year, which makes this year’s turnaround even more enjoyable.”That’s a playoff-type game, as close as you get to the playoffs without getting in there,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”Our guys played with great urgency
www.officialbluejackets.com , commitment and intensity. You play like that – good things will happen to you.”Joel Edmundson scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen finished with 19 saves. The Blues were coming off road wins at Los Angeles and Anaheim, but couldn’t keep the momentum going at home where they fell to 20-15-0.”We definitely haven’t played our best at home,” Allen said.The Blues are now on the outside looking in as far as the playoff chase is concerned.”Absolutely we have lots of time, lots of hockey left to be played,” St. Louis center Brayden Schenn said. ”Obviously we’re going to need some help, but we have to do our part and get the wins.”MacKinnon scored twice in a span of 2:53 in the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. He has 11 goals and 13 assists in 13 games since returning from a shoulder injury on Feb. 18.MacKinnon, who leads the team with 35 goals, had his 24 multipoint game, the most by a Colorado player since Joe Sakic posted 28 in the 2006-07 season.”He’s playing great, one of the best players in the league right now
Columbus Blue Jackets T-Shirts Authentic ,” Rantanen said. ”Speed is his thing. It’s fun to watch.”Edmundson pulled the Blues within one at 9:15 of the second with his seventh.Rantanen slipped a backhander past Allen with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the middle period, and added an empty-netter with 41 seconds to go in the third.NOTES: Nicole Hensley, a goalie on the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team, dropped the ceremonial first puck. Hensley played college hockey at Lindenwood University in nearby St. Charles. … Edmundson returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with fractured right forearm. The Blues were 4-7-2 without him. … Colorado’s string of eight successive games with a power-play goal came to a halt. It was the longest streak since Jan. 14-31, 2006. … The Blues have scored first in 38 of 71 games this season.UP NEXTAvalanche: Host Nashville on Friday night.Blues: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday night. DETROIT — Controversy abounds for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they prepare to open the 2018-19 NHL season against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.There had already rampant speculation about the future of Columbus goaltender and two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and left winger and 2017-18 team leading scorer Artemi Panarin. Both are in the final season of their contracts and failed to sign extensions during the summer.And on Wednesday, coach John Tortorella told Columbus radio station 97.1 The Fan that he will start backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo on Thursday night instead of Bobrovsky, who struggled during the preseason.Article continues below ...Tortella said Bobrovsky will play in the Blue Jackets’ home opener against Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night at Nationwide Arena. .Columbus, which was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, will also be without star defensemen Seth Jones, who will miss six to eight weeks because of a sprained MCL suffered during the preseason.But defenseman Zach Werenski returns from shoulder surgery, which he underwent on May 3.“I worked hard this summer
Columbus Blue Jackets Hoodies Authentic , I’ve rehabbed it a long time and it’s finally coming together,” Werenski said on the team’s website.The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Ryan Murray off injured reserve and placed defenseman Scott Harrington on injured reserve on Wednesday.Detroit, which has missed the playoffs for the past two seasons, is injecting youth into what had been a veteran-laden roster. Five players could make their NHL debut on Thursday night.Defensemen Dennis Cholowski, 20 and Libor Sulak, 24; and forwards Michael Rasmussen, 19; and Christoffer Ehn, 22, will definitely be in the lineup against Columbus. Defenseman Filip Hronek, 20, could be called up from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League and play
Columbus Blue Jackets Hats Authentic , depending on injuries to veteran defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson.Defenseman Joe Hicketts, 22, could also be called up. He played five games for the Red Wings in 2017-18.Cholowski was the most impressive of the rookies during the preseason. He averaged more than 20 minutes in six games, including considerable power play and penalty kill time. Cholowski had two goals and four assists for six points and was plus-5.“I’ve liked him lots, I like his skill set, I like what he’s good at, we need what he’s good at it,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said on www.mlive.com about Cholowski. “Pro experience matters, but so does talent. So if he’s good enough and can make an impact, he should be here.”This is Cholowski’s first pro season after being Detroit’s first-round pick (20th overall) in 2016.Red Wings defenseman Mike Green will be out for more than a month, according to Blashill
Custom Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys , as he recovers from a virus that attacked his liver during the preseason.With the retirement of captain Henrik Zetterberg because of a bad back at the beginning of training camp, Detroit named two more alternate captains on Wednesday. Center Dylan Larkin will wear an “A” during home games and center Frans Nielsen will be the third alternate captain for road games. They join Kronwall and left winger Justin Abdelkader as alternate captains.Larkin, 22, led Detroit with 63 points last season and signed five-year, $30.5 million extension during the offseason.“I think his basic leadership skills are on the ice,” Nielsen said about Larkin. “The way he brings it and the way he competes every night.”Larkin is expected to be the Red Wings’ next captain.
