Elvis Merzlikins will make his second start in net, and Yegor Chinakhov will make his season debut for the Blue Jackets on Oct. 16 at Nationwide Arena.
Merzlikins (1-0-0) made 48 saves on 52 shots in a 7-4 victory for the Blue Jackets on Oct. 11 at the Minnesota Wild to split their first two games on the road. He’ll now face the Colorado Avalanche, who are 3-0-1. Chinakhov watched the Jackets’ first three games as a healthy scratch but draws into the lineup as a replacement for Miles Wood (upper body), who might be facing a long-term issue.
Wood is out for at least a week and possibly longer after sustaining a facial injury near or involving his left eye, which was struck by a stick blade Oct. 13 against the New Jersey Devils.
Prior to the game against the Avalanche, star forward Cam Atkinson will be honored with a ceremony after signing a one-day contract to officially retire with the Blue Jackets, who selected him in the sixth round (157th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Atkinson will pull on his No. 13 jersey and skate one final lap in front of Blue Jackets fans, who watched him grow into a franchise pillar during a decade he spent playing in Columbus.
“This is home for us, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Atkinson said, including his wife, Natalie, and three children all born at Riverside Hospital. “I’ll keep harping on it. The best fans, ‘The 5th Line,’ are some of the most loyal fans in the league. I’ve been part of some other organizations, and I can tell you they’re a special group. They’re there through the ups and downs, and I’m just happy to be able to call this place home.”
The Blue Jackets are off to a 1-2-0 start, and now have a daunting challenge facing Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar and the Avalanche (3-0-1), who are paying their lone visit of the season to Nationwide Arena.
Miles Wood and Erik Gudbranson are injured and won’t play for the Blue Jackets. Wood has a facial laceration near his left eye and Gudbranson is dealing with a suspected concussion.
It will be the first time Blue Jackets center Charlie Coyle and Avalanche rookie forward Gavin Brindley face the teams that included them in a pre-draft trade this past summer that sent Coyle and Wood to Columbus for Brindley and two draft picks.
Here’s a look at each team’s projected lineup:
Here is how the Blue Jackets will line up against the Avalanche after shaking up their forward lines at practice Oct. 15.
Forwards
Kent Johnson – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Cole Sillinger
Boone Jenner – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese – Isac Lundestrom – Yegor Chinakhov
Defensemen
Zach Werenski – Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen – Denton Mateychuk
Goalies
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves
Scratched: F Yegor Chinakhov
Injured: D Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Miles Wood (upper body)
Colorado Avalanche lineup at Columbus Blue Jackets
Here is how the Avs will line up against the Blue Jackets:
Forwards
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – jack Drury – Victor Olofsson
Joel Kiviranta – Parker Kelly – Gavin Brindley
Defensemen
Devon Towes – Cale Makar
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Ilya Solovyov – Sam Malinski
Goalies
Scott Wedgewood
Trent Miner
Scratched: D Jack Ahcan, C Zakhar Bardakov
Injured: G MacKenzie Blackwood (lower body), D Samuel Girard (upper body), RW Logan O’Connor (hip).
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social