Foligno powers Blue Jackets past Avalanche

COLUMBUS -- Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Nathan MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg scored for the Avalanche. Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves in his debut for Colorado after he was acquired from the Washington Capitals on June 23.
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
"We knew we weren't going to win every game," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We wanted to make sure we came out with the same game on the road that we played in the first two home games."
Foligno gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 6:49 of the first period with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Alex Wennberg.

Dubois scored on a rebound in front on a 5-on-3 to make it 2-0 at 10:32. Cam Atkinson was at the left post and tried to jam in a cross-crease pass from Foligno, but Grubauer made the save before the puck bounced to Dubois.
"I don't want to take anything away from Columbus because they had a good first period, but we stood around," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We weren't ready at the start. When you stand around at the start it's pretty easy to move the puck around. It's also the reason why we had three penalties in five, six minutes of the first period."
MacKinnon cut it to 2-1 at 3:27 of the second period, taking a pass from Mikko Rantanen before using Landeskog as a screen in the high slot to beat Bobrovsky.

Soderberg tied it 2-2 at 9:30 after Samuel Girard's shot deflected off his skate 18 seconds into a power play. The goal was his 200th NHL point (65 goals, 135 assists).
Panarin scored to make it 3-2 at 5:14 of the third period. Markus Nutivaara faked a shot from the right circle and passed across to Panarin, who beat Grubauer glove side.

"To fight back like that in the third period showed a lot of character on our part," Dubois said.
Foligno extended the lead to 4-2 at 11:32 after he received a pass from Wennberg while cutting down the right wing and beat Grubauer blocker side.
"When you get passes like that from [Wennberg], it's hard to miss," Foligno said.
Anderson made it 5-2 with an empty-net goal at 18:00.
"We had a really good first," Foligno said. "We didn't have a great second, then we came right back in the third."
"That's important for the mindset in here that no matter what's going on in a game, we have to find a way to win a period sometimes."

They said it

"It doesn't matter if the second period was great. The first period and the third period are where we ran into some trouble. We played the right way in the second. You've got to play the right way for 60 minutes." -- Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer
"He's still not to the standard I think he should be at. I think he was trying to make a difference. He was more reactive tonight. His game had more flow to it." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella on Alexander Wennberg

Need to know

Avalanche forward Matt Calvert, who played his first eight seasons with the Blue Jackets, returned to Columbus the first time since signing with Colorado on July 1. He received a standing ovation and a video tribute in the first period. … Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole also returned to Columbus. He played 20 games for the Blue Jackets last season before signing with Colorado on July 1. … Columbus defenseman Scott Harrington (concussion) played his first game of the season. He replaced Dean Kukan, who was a healthy scratch.

What's next

Avalanche: At the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, ALT, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets:At the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-O, NHL.TV)