Colorado's side of the story is simpler than the Columbus score makes it look. The Avalanche rattled off 3 straight 5-2 wins over New Jersey, Calgary and Chicago, then played the second night of a back-to-back in Ohio with Scott Wedgewood in net and gave up a goal 28 seconds in. Charlie Coyle finished with 4 points, Columbus scored 4 in the 2nd, and Wedgewood made 12 saves. That's a schedule loss. It's ugly, but it doesn't tell you much about the team.
What does matter for Colorado is Josh Manson. He went down with an ankle injury against the Devils and is expected to miss 8 weeks, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. The Avalanche have gone 2-1 without him, but every pairing behind the top guys now plays bigger minutes, and the October loss in Nashville was a game where Colorado's defense got carved up for 6.
In net, Juuse Saros was expected to start against Carolina for Nashville, and Justus Annunen stopped all 4 Tampa Bay shooters in the shootout win before that. Neither club has named a starter for Thursday. Colorado gets a day off after the Columbus game and Nashville gets a day off before flying west, so nobody's goalie should be gassed. The likelier difference is which defense holds up when the other team's top line is on the ice.
Puck drop is 7:30 PM MT. Colorado is the better team on paper and plays at home. Nashville already beat them by 4 this season, has just added a high-end young center, and is playing its first road game since the homestand ended. If the 6-2 game was a fluke, Thursday is where the Avalanche show it.
