When facing a powerhouse like the Colorado Avalanche with a roster that's missing almost half of its NHL regulars, you'd better have a sharpshooter and a brick wall in net.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets end winless streak with shootout win vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Takeaways
Lucky for the Blue Jackets, they had both Monday night at Nationwide Arena in a 4-1 victory over the Avalanche that featured goalie Daniil Tarasov 's 46 saves and Alex Nylander 's two goals. Colorado outshot Columbus 47-25, including 11-7 in the first period and 19-4 in the third ― which began with the Blue Jackets holding a 3-0 lead on goals in the second by Kirill Marchenko and Nylander.
"(Tarasov's) been really good," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "Third period, you know the other team is going to push, especially a great offensive team like Colorado. So, you need your goalie to make some big saves."
Tarasov came through with a lot of them while allowing his fewest goals in a start this season. Nylander, meanwhile, continued his torrid goal-scoring pace since the Blue Jackets acquired him along with a conditional sixth-round pick Feb. 22 in a trade that sent Emil Bemstrom to the Pittsburgh Penguins .
Less than five minutes after Marchenko made it 1-0 at 9:35 of the second, Nylander made it 2-0 with a laser from the right wing to beat Avalanche goalie Justus Annunen (21 saves). Four minutes later, Nylander's second of the period made it 3-0 with a backhand through traffic for his 10th goal in 17 games since joining the Blue Jackets (25-38-12).
Despite the lopsided shot total, Tarasov stopped all but one tipped shot in the third by Chris Wagner and helped the Blue Jackets give the Avalanche an 0 for 4 on power plays. He also handed Nathan MacKinnon just his 12th game of the season without a goal or assist, paving the way for Cole Sillinger 's empty-net goal with 1:33 remaining to seal an unlikely win.
The victory gave the Jackets a split of the season series following a 6-1 blowout loss to the Avalanche last month.
"I think we played really good tonight," Tarasov said. "We had really good structure, especially on the (penalty kill). The 'PK' was huge tonight."
Here are three takeaways:
Tarasov was too caught up in the moment to notice, but Blue Jackets fans began chanting his last name during the postgame celebration at Nationwide Arena following his performance against the Avalanche.
Chosen as the game's first star, Tarasov took it all in the way he tends the net ― calm, collected and completely in stride. The way he's played since late February , Tarasov could easily focus on himself while trying to prove he's a capable No. 1 NHL goalie. That's not how he's handling it. He's focused only on helping the Jackets push for the finish line as a team to conclude another a frustrating season in Columbus.
"I think it's really important," Tarasov said. "It was a difficult season, and finishing strong this season will be like development for our whole group. It's about (improving) for the future. So, we're just battling and trying to play strong in the last seven games."
Since allowing five goals in a loss to the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 13 , Tarasov has gone 4-5-1 in his past 12 starts with a solid 2.40 goals-against average and blistering .935 save percentage. During that span, his save percentage ranks seventh among all NHL goalies and his goals-against average is 20th.
According to Natural Stat Trick , Tarasov leads the NHL by a wide margin in goals-saved above average in his past 12 starts ― 13.46 over Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen 's 9.91 as next highest — and he's second in high-danger goals saved above average (8.51 to Andersen's 8.58).
Tarasov's .898 high-danger save percentage also ranks seventh in the NHL since his 27-save victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 21 at Honda Center.
"When I say, 'sticky,' the best goalies in the league catch the puck all the time and know exactly where that rebound's going," defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. "Now, we're starting to figure (Tarasov) out and understand where his rebounds go, and that's if he gives one up. He's catching lots of stuff."
It's a good thing Tarasov was sharp. Elvis Merzlikins , who backstopped the Jackets to a 4-3 shootout victory Saturday against the Penguins, is day-to-day with a lower body injury that put him in the press box in street clothes Monday.
Among the Blue Jackets' best storylines in another rebuilding season far from playoff qualification is the one about Nylander.
Since coming to Columbus on Feb. 22 in what could turn out to be a career saving trade, the skilled forward has done nothing but capitalize on his latest NHL opportunity. In only 17 games, Nylander has turned himself into one of the Jackets' top goal-scoring threats. After tacking two more goals onto his season total in the Jackets' win over the Avalanche, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander now has 10 goals, three assists and 13 points.
That gives him the most goals in any player's first 17 games for the Blue Jackets, topping Kirill Marchenko's nine in his first 17 games last season. Unlike Marchenko at the time, Nylander isn't a rookie. He's 26, was picked eighth overall in 2016 by the Buffalo Sabres and made his NHL debut the following season.
"They're giving me the chance and letting me play," Nylander said. "They're making me feel really welcome since I came here, and obviously, I would love to keep playing here. It's been great."
After not earning a regular roster spot in Buffalo, Nylander played his only full NHL season with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20. He had 10 goals, 16 assists and 26 points in 65 games before sustaining a knee injury in the NHL's 2020 "Covid bubble" playoffs and missing the entire 2020-21 season because of it.
Rather than keeping him, the Blackhawks traded Nylader to the Penguins on Jan. 5, 2022. He played nine games for Pittsburgh last season, five more this season and was parked at AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton – unsure of his NHL future – before the Blue Jackets gave him another shot at proving himself.
Thus far, Nylander has made that look like a very wise decision.
His goal-scoring rate likely isn't sustainable over the long haul of a full 82-game season, but Nylander has certainly shown that he should get a longer stay in Columbus with a contract extension. He's a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer but could be playing his way into a valuable role within the Jackets' rebuild.
"Every time he shoots the puck, he's one of those guys that I feel he can score," Vincent said. "He's accurate. He's quick. His weight transfer is really good and his technique shooting the puck is really good. So, if he keeps going that way, trending in that direction, that could be a hell of a trade for us."
Sillinger was credited with his 13thgoal after just getting the blade of his stick on a puck shot by Alexandre Texier at an empty net to seal the Jackets' win over the Avalanche.
That pulled him within three goals of the career-high 16 he scored two years ago as an 18-year old rookie. While getting his scoring touch back after a sophomore dip is encouraging for Sillinger, competing against the NHL's elite centers is more helpful. Injuries plus captain Boone Jenner 's illness paved the way for Sillinger to match wits with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on Saturday and MacKinnon two nights later — both during Blue Jackets victories.
Sillinger's play was noticeable in both matchups, helping the Jackets hold Crosby to one assist in the shootout victory and MacKinnon to no points in a victory over the Avalanche — a team that's steamrolling toward the postseason. MacKinnon has a whopping 47 goals, 80 assists and 127 points in 75 games for the Avalanche, including a 14-game point streak and two 19-game point streaks.
Sillinger had an assist while taking 24 faceoffs against Pittsburgh before taking 25 draws and scoring a goal against Colorado.
"I trust him," Vincent said. "I trust 'Silly.' I trusted that line. The last two games, he was matched against Crosby and tonight against MacKinnon. That's not bad. But he's earned that trust. He's engaged. He's learning from his mistakes. He's coachable, which is a big piece of his game. The mistakes that he was making early in the season are gone, so it's building trust and giving us options moving forward."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets down Avalanche on big night for Tarasov, Nylander
