Week Two: October 8th-14th
Coming off of a three day break, the Jackets will be rested and ready for the Colorado Avalanche to visit Nationwide Arena. This will be your only chance to check out Nathan MacKinnon and the surprise Avs in Columbus.
It also will be the return of beloved Jacket Matt Calvert to Columbus. Expect a nice welcome back tribute from the club for Calvert and a nice round of applause for Ian Cole.
It will be the Av’s third game of the year as well and, like the Jackets, they will have had three full days off.
After the Tuesday game, the Jackets will have their first (mini) road trip of the year down to Florida to play the Panthers on Thursday and the Lightning on Saturday. These games will be the teams first true test as the Lightning are the favorites to win the Eastern Conference and Florida will be much improved as long as Roberto Luongo is healthy.
It will only be the Panther’s second game of the season as they will be coming off a five day break after their season opener. This should be an advantage for the Jackets as five days off early in the season isn’t ideal when you are trying to build chemistry and shake the off-season rust away.
Tampa is going to be a tough matchup though. A point agains the Lightning should be considered a solid result.