The Columbus Blue Jackets return home after an unsuccessful hockey Halloween roadtrip to host the Colorado Avalanche in their only meeting at Nationwide Arena this season debuting their newest Hometown Remix sweaters at 7pm EST. Tickets are still available and you can watch via the Fan 97.1 or on Amazon Prime Video, ALT, CBJHN, or CBJNHL.
Tonight’s celebrity cannoneer at Nationwide Arena is the controversial Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and President of Youngstown University, former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach under “Tattoo-gate” Jim P. Tressel.
Entertainment on the Concourse includes Life-size Bobbleheads, NHL26 Simulators (not an error, somehow no 27), Poster Making, the Hockey Stick Throne, and the new Hometown Remix merchandise available at the Blue Line Store.
Colorado arrives in Columbus on the second half of a back to back with travel as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center by the final score of 5–2. The Avalanche come into this contest with the most goals in the league with tied with Edmonton for most goals for in the league with 64 in 15 games. The Avs also enter this evening on a three game winning streak.
Joe Sakic shook up the organization this summer as he regained general manager positioning alongside his presidency and then traded preferred players by the former manager to his new and rival club in Nashville.
F Ross Colton and G Isak Posch went to Smashville for G Magnus Chrona and 2 third round picks. F Zachary L’Heureux and F Fedor Svechkov went to Denver for F Jack Drury, F Chase Bradley, and a 2029 3rd round pick. D Jack Achan also signed with Nashville as a free agent.
F Valeri Nichuskin joined Columbus for 3 draft picks.
F Ivan Ivan was dealt to Boston for F Fabian Lysell. Former Bruins’ forward Georgii Merkulov signed with the Avalanche in free agency.
Other free agent departures included forwards TJ Tynan, Joel Kiviranta, Tye Felhaber, Alex Barre-Boulet, Valteri Puustinen, Matthew Steinburg, Jason Polin, Zakhar Bardakov, and Daniil Gushchin, and defenseman Ronnie Attard and Jacob MacDonald.
Free agent acquitions included forwards Jaden Schwartz, Vinnie Hinostroza, Adam Beckman, and defensemen Christian Wolanin and Noah Juulsen.
After being swept in the Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights, this is a cup or bust season for the President’s Trophy winners after extending Cale Makar to a $20.8M cap hit starting next season. This is the win it year for Colorado. While goaltending has crashed to Earth for the Wood tandem, the question is if the offense and defense can hold up in what also might be the final season for the eldest athlete in the league, 2003 first rounder Brent Burns.
Scott Wedgewood gets the starting slot tonight as Mackenzie Blackwood earned the win last evening for Colorado.
Columbus gets the home debut of Ivan Provorov after suiting up on Halloween in Dallas. The Jackets also got more positive health news this morning as Issac Lundestrom participated in practice for the first time this season after suffering an injury in the offseason. Offseason addition Cam Talbot will get the starting job tonight for the Jackets as the veteran has had the better start of the Canadian duo.
This is also a bit of a former player matchup as Charlie Coyle and Valeri Nichushkin are facing off with their most recent club in the Avalanche. Nichushkin was acquired this past summer, and Coyle was acquired during the summer of 2025 for Gavin Brindley.
Projected Lineups
Colorado Avalanche
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog -- Brock Nelson -- Nicolas Roy
Jaden Schwartz -- Nazem Kadri -- T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly -- Fedor Svechkov -- Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Brett Kulak -- Sam Malinski
Noah Juulsen -- Brent Burns
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: None
Injured: Zachary L’Heureux (upper body), Josh Manson (lower body)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Matthew Knies -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Valeri Nichushkin -- Luca Del Bel Belluz -- Conor Garland
Cole Sillinger -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier
Ryan Lomberg -- Sean Monahan -- Dmitri Voronkov
Zach Werenski -- Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov -- Denton Mateychuk
Jake Christiansen -- Dante Fabbro
Cam Talbot
Jet Greaves
Scratched: Emil Andrae, Danton Heinen, Erik Gudbranson
Injured: Isac Lundestrom (lower body)
Players to Watch
Colorado — Nathan MacKinnon — 25 points in 15 games as he continues to wreck shop in the show. With being the only skater on the Avalanche with more than 40 shots at 60(!) on the season, he is the offense.
Columbus — Valeri Nichushkin — only 1 goal since being moved by the Avalanche, what an opportunity for revenge like motivation. The former cup champion sees his old teammates and friends, why not score on the goalies you used to see in practice.
Predicted Final Scores
With the odds favoring the Avalanche as a -125, the Jackets are at +105 according to the NHL DraftKings Sportsbook.
COL — 5
CBJ — 3