Game #44 preview, Blue Jackets need a miracle in Colorado

The Blue Jackets, mired in a three game losing streak, may need some kind of miracle as they take on the Colorado Avalanche in Denver this afternoon. I hope you've been saying your prayers.

The Jackets head into Denver at about their lowest point of the season. After blowing a 4-1 lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins last Sunday, they've played arguably the two worst games of their season since.

First, it was a 5-2 shellacking at the hands of the young, depleted San Jose Sharks. Then, it was a 5-3 whooping from the veteran, depleted Vegas Golden Knights. At least they were closer? If you haven't been watching, it's bad. Real bad.

Today, they face what may very well be their most difficult challenge of the season: try to get off the mat and win a road game against the NHL's best team.

The Opponent

Right to the facts: the Colorado Avalanche are on pace to tie an NHL record for points this season. Through 43 games, they are 32-4-7 (71 points); which puts them on pace for 135 points. That would tie the record set by the Boston Bruins in 2022-23.

Impressively, they did not lose their third game in regulation until Sunday, a full two months after the last team to do so. They lost their fourth in regulation two nights later (slackers), then followed it up by an 8-2 beating of the Ottawa Senators at home on Thursday night.

The Avalanche go as their biggest star goes, and he may be the best player on the planet right now. Nathan MacKinnon has 36 goals and 78 points so far this season, which leads the NHL in scoring.

He's 23 points clear of second place on their roster (Martin Necas). They also have the game's reining Norris Trophy winner on the blue line sitting third.

The Avs have just the right mix of talent, speed, size, physicality and depth. There are no glaring holes in their lineup, as you would expect from a team with their record.

The only chance the Blue Jackets have at maintaining pace with them, is the fact that the Avalanche are a little bit banged up. Out of the lineup are captain Gabriel Landeskog, top pairing defenseman Devon Toews, and starting goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood.

Let's be real though: this is still their game to lose. The Avalanche picked the Jackets apart in their first meeting of the season, getting a 4-1 win at Nationwide back on October 16th. They have only gotten better since then, while the Jackets have, well, gone the other way...

The Good Guys

The Jackets are the anti Avalanche. The "Bizarro Avs", if you will. While Colorado races to the top of the standings, the Blue Jackets are sputtering to the finish line.

The bad news: there are still 39 games to go, including this one. They will need to muster up the energy and enough pride to try to play out the string with some dignity, now that we can probably write their playoff hopes off.

This team is also a little bit banged up, with 5 regulars sitting out. So, it will be tough for Dean Evason to make any meaningful changes to the lineup to try to spark anything. But, that seems to be his only move to try to spark anything, so who knows what we'll get.

The biggest question likely comes in goal. Sounds like Elvis Merzlikins gets his first start in 9 games. Throw him to the wolves, Deano...

Three Keys to Success

1. Show some emotion. When this team has brought some anger, they have found stretches of success. Against the Avalanche, their only hope may be to start throwing their weight around and seeing what happens.

2. Win (any) period. This would be a positive takeaway, if we're being honest. Just try to win one period against this team.

3. Pray. This is more for us as fans, but the team can try it as well.

It's an early afternoon matchup in Denver, but that's a late afternoon matchup back east. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 4:00 Eastern. Let's go Jackets.