The Columbus Blue Jackets completed their two-game road trip to begin the season with a 6-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche Saturday in Denver. It came after Thursday’s tough 3-2 loss to Minnesota to kick off the campaign.

The Blue Jackets started Saturday’s game with a lot of speed and took a 2-0 lead on goals from Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson. Werenski and Johnson scored the CBJ’s two goals Thursday. Last year’s Hart Memorial Trophy-winner, Nathan MacKinnon, responded with a power-play goal for Colorado to make it 2-1 Blue Jackets  at the end of the opening period.

Within the first two minutes of period number two, Adam Fantilli scored his first goal of the season for Columbus. The Avalanche came right back, getting goals from Miles Wood and Casey Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt’s score also came on the vaunted Colorado power play.

Columbus retook the lead in the second when Kirill Marchenko wristed a shot from the right circle that hit the right shin pad of Colorado goalie Justus Annunen and trickled into the net. It was 5-3 Blue Jackets at the end of two periods. Yegor Chinakhov added a goal five minutes later to put the Blue Jackets up 5-3 after two. 

In the third, with just 1:20 on the clock and Annunen pulled from the goal, Ross Colton knocked one home on a beautiful passing scheme from MacKinnon and Cale Makar. The Avalanche continued to threaten down the stretch but Daniil Tarasov stood strong in the net.

The scoring ended on an empty netter when Marchenko broke away, then found Sean Monahan on an unselfish pass for the goal. Like Marchencko, Monahan and Chinakhov had a goal and two assists on the night.

Monahan was awarded the new donkey hat by his teammates in the locker room after the game. It replaces the kepi cap in honor of the late Johnny Gaudreau, who playfully called his teammates “donkeys” when the circumstances warranted.

The Blue Jackets travel back to Columbus to prepare for their home opener Tuesday against the Stanley Cup defending champions, the Florida Panthers.