Colorado Avalanche @ Columbus Blue Jackets:2024-25 NHL Season Game 74

First and foremost, tonight is Military Appreciation Night 2025 for the Columbus Blue Jackets; thank you to all of those who served, are currently serving, and all their families!  

This game would go from 0 to 100 from the opening faceoff. 3:25 would see the first goal of the game as a solid Avalanche rush toward Elvis Merzlikins would pay off for the visiting team. N, MacKinnon would pop his thirty-first goal of the season between Elvis's padded legs. A, Lehkonen would add assist seventeen on the primary while D. Toews would add his thirty-second on the secondary. Sean Monahan would even the odds with goal seventeen of his season at 6:35! Dante Fabbro would add assist sixteen to his season on the primary while Dimitri Voronkov would add his twenty-third on the secondary. Unfortunately, this game wouldn't make it to the first intermission tied as the Avalancehh would go up 2-1 late, at 18:05, the goal credited to B. Nelson would become his twenty-fourth this season. C, Maker would add an astonishing fifty-nine assists this season on the primary while D, Toews would add his second assist tonight and thirty-third this season on the secondary. The final 1:55 would evaporate, and the Jackets would look to score more in period two, and they did. 

After almost four and a half months, Zach Aston-Reese would finally get his fifth goal of the season at 4:16! This goal would be all Reese Cups' own, no assists. At 7:56, Captain Boone Jenner would give the home team the lead, their first of the game. The Johnson's would team up for the assists on their Captain's goal; Jack Johnson would add his sixth on the primary while Kent Johnons would add his twenty-eighth on the secondary. After this, the ice would shift back in the Avalanch's favor. C. Coyle would tie the game with goal sixteen at 12:39. The primary assist on this goal would become M. Wood's third assist this season, and E. Johnson's would also add his third this season on the secondary. 14:02 would see the Avalanche take the lead back with P. Kelly's third goal this season. The only assist on this goal would come from J. Drury, becoming number nine this season for him. Then, with seconds left, C, Maker would add goal thirty of his season on an Avalanche powerplay, making it 5-3 Avalanche. N. MacKinnon would add an outrageous eighty-second assist to his season on the primary while C. Coyle would add his tenth to his season. With this fifth Avalanche goal coming at 19:22, no comeback would happen for the Jackets in the final 00:38, and the Jackets would go into period three down two goals. 

I'd really, really like to say it got better, but I don't lie readers, you know that. D. Toews would add a goal to his two assists tonight, giving the Avalanche a three-goal lead at 4:01. This would be D. Toews's ninth goal this season. C. Maker would add assist two to his night and his sixtieth this season on the primary while N, MacKinnon would also add his second assist tonight and his eighty-third this season. Elvis Merzlikins would then get screened at 5:49, leading to the Avalanche's seventh goal tonight. This would come from M. Wood, giving him three this season. C. Coyle would add his second assist tonight, the eleventh this season, on M. Wood's goal. It was at this point that Elvis Merzlikins's frustration would boil over. He'd ultimately break his stick, leave the ice, and go down the tunnel. I wish he'd finished the game, but in this situation, after facing so many short breakaways and screens that he couldn't have stopped, I get his annoyance with the evening. He'd finish 21/28, and that would add up to a .750 save percentage. At this point, backup Daniil Tarasov would come into the game. With a little over two minutes left in the game, the Jackets would get another crack at the powerplay this evening after Ivan Provorov took a high stick to the face. There wasn't blood, but still, that sort of penalty is always a cause for concern. Ivan Provorov would actually have the last shot of the game... his stick would break, and the blade would fly off into the crowd. So, yeah, I think it's for the best, for many reasons, that this game ended here! For anyone wondering, Daniil Tarasov would finish 4/4 with a perfect save percentage. I know it seems obvious since the score didn't change, and I know he didn't face many shots, but he deserves props for coming in cold.  

I know the 7-3 loss is sobering and hard to wallow. That said, the offense had many good chances tonight, the Avalanche were just fighting hard as a win tonight could and did secure their spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. M. Blackwood wasn't letting another puck past him after the one that gave the Jackets a 3-2 lead early in period two. That's just the way it is, but we're not eliminated, and I hope to see this team rebound as they have so much this season in Toronto Saturday.  

To make matters a little bit more challenging, about halfway through the third period, the Montreal Canadians beat the Boston Bruins at home, 4-1. So, we're now 4 points out of that everchanging 2nd Wild Card Spot in the Easter Conference. We have 8 games remaining, 16 points up for grabs, but this does make catching them a bit harder, especially with the New York Rangers still within 2 points of the Canadians and also ahead of us in the standings. But, hey, you never know. 

The Blue Jackets will travel to Toronto to play the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. 

Go CBJ!