Blue Jackets at Avalanche
THE STORY: The Colorado Avalanche are the youngest team in the NHL, but appear to be handling the pressure of a playoff race very well. A different test – avoiding a letdown – comes Thursday when the host the NHL’s worst team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Avalanche have won four straight, including a 5-0 victory at Columbus last Friday, and are one point behind Dallas for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Blue Jackets), Altitude (Avalanche)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (18-38-7): With Rick Nash and newly acquired defenseman Jack Johnson, Columbus has at least two building blocks for the future. It was revealed Nash went to management and requested a trade in January, but a great majority of the fans at Nationwide Arena cheered him Tuesday. “I’m honored. Like I’ve said before, these fans have been through a lot. It honestly meant the world to me to hear that.’’ Nash responded with his 22nd goal of the season in the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 loss to Detroit. Columbus has lost three straight and is 1-7-2 in its last 10 against Colorado.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (33-27-4): Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly, two of the Avalanche’s top young players, led the way in Monday’s 4-1 victory over Anaheim, a win that allowed Colorado to surpass last year's point total with 18 games to spare. Each scored a goal, and O’Reilly, a Selke Award candidate, did an excellent job shutting down the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf, who centers Anaheim’s top line. O’Reilly leads the team with 50 points. Calder Trophy candidate Gabriel Landeskog, the second pick in the 2011 draft, has a team-leading 18 goals. Semyon Varlamov has started five straight games and is 4-1-0.
OVERTIME:
1. Forward Jamie McGinn is expected to make his Avalanche debut. McGinn found out he was traded while the Sharks' team plane was 35,000 feet in the air en route to San Jose on Monday.
2. Columbus has a goal differential of minus-66; the New York Islanders are second-worst at minus-39.
3. Colorado’s Steve Downie has two goals and five assists in four games since being acquired in a trade from Tampa Bay last week.