Rapid Recap: Avalanche 2, Blue Jackets 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon scored in the third period to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.
Seth Jones tallied while on the power play for Columbus in the second period, but Colorado rallied in the third period with back-to-back goals to take the win. Kadri got the Avs on the scoreboard at 11:45 with an unassisted tally, and MacKinnon gave the club the lead at 15:26 with a one-timer off a pass from Gabriel Landeskog. Cale Makar also had an assist on the play for his 41st point of the season.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves for Colorado, while Elvis Merzlikins stopped 20 shots for Columbus.

The Avs went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill to earn their third straight victory.
Colorado and Columbus concluded their season series, with Colorado winning both contests. The teams will face off in a pair of regular-season games this upcoming fall at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, as part of the NHL Global Series.
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Highlights
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
9:30 CBJ (0-1) - PPG, Seth Jones scored from the top of the right circle after Boone Jenner won a faceoff during a power-play oopportunity.
3rd Period
11:45 COL (1-1) - After Nikita Zadorov forced a Columbus turnover in the offensive end, Nazem Kadri found the back of the net with a wrist shot from the left circle that went far-side.
15:26 COL (2-1) - Nathan MacKinnon gave the Avalanche the lead with a one-time slap shot at the left point after Gabriel Landeskog fed him the puck.
Final: Avalanche - 2 | Blue Jackets - 1

3 STARS

Selected by Columbus media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 2
Columbus: 1 for 5

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer started for the fourth consecutive game and stopped 31 shots. He improved to 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .963 save percentage in his last three outings.
Columbus: Elvis Merzlikins, who was playing for the second consecutive night, made 20 saves. Before Kadri's goal, he had a shutout streak of 174:40, the third-longest run in Columbus history.

STATE OF THE NIGHT

Gabriel Landeskog notched an assist to tie Matt Duchene (250) for seventh place in Avalanche history for helpers (since 1995-96). Landeskog's 250 career assists are tied for 11th in Avalanche/Nordiques history.

NOTEBOOK

Colorado and Columbus wrapped up their season series with the Avs sweeping the set (2-0-0)... The Avalanche improved to a 15-5-3 record against Eastern Conference opponents and 17-9-2 on the road this season... Colorado, which plays at the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, is now 6-3-0 in the first contest when playing on back-to-back days. Colorado will play a total of 12 such sets this campaign... The Avs are now 3-1-0 so far on their current five-game road trip, winning each of the last three contests. They are also 6-1-0 in their last seven games and 6-1-2 in the last nine...Nathan MacKinnon recorded his fourth game-winning goal of the season and the 39th of his career, surpassing Peter Forsberg to take sole possession of fifth place on the franchise's all-time list for game-winners... Colorado picked up its first win of the season when trailing entering the third period.

QUOTABLE

Forward Gabriel Landeskog on Nathan MacKinnon's goal: "It was good to see him score, he was fired up after that one. He has had a few of those one-timers in his career and kind of just look for him in that spot, he pulls up and wants those. And I put it on a tee for him, so I expected him to score."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME
Ready for battle.

ROSTER REPORT

Philipp Grubauer started in net for the fourth game in a row… The rest of the Avalanche's lineup was the same as it was in the team's previous outing on Thursday at the Ottawa Senators… Vladislav Kamenev and Calle Rosen were the healthy scratches.

INJURY UPDATE

Forward Colin Wilson (lower body) remains out indefinitely while rehabbing after having two surgeries earlier this season.

UP NEXT

The Avs conclude their ninth back-to-back set of the season and their five-game road trip on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. After that contest, Colorado returns home for a five-game homestand that includes the 2020 NHL Stadium Series outdooor game at the U.S. Air Force Academy next Saturday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
11 Matt Calvert - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
17 Tyson Jost - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 83 Matt Nieto
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz