Rookie goalie Trent Miner slammed the door with 29 saves, Brent Burns scored twice and the streaking Colorado Avalanche rolled to their 17th consecutive home victory—one win from matching the franchise benchmark set during the 2022 Stanley Cup run.
Ball Arena has become a frozen fortress. Saturday night’s 4-0 dismantling of the Columbus Blue Jackets stretched the Colorado Avalanche’s home dominance to 17 straight wins (19-0-2 overall), leaving the 2021-22 championship standard of 18 within reach and the NHL record of 23 (Detroit, 2011-12) suddenly in the periphery.
Miner Arrives, Wedgewood Rests, Blackwood Heals
With Mackenzie Blackwood nursing a lower-body injury and veteran Scott Wedgewood overdue for maintenance, the crease door swung open for 23-year-old Trent Miner. The Calgary-born keeper responded with a 29-save masterpiece—his first career shutout in his first home start—turning aside every look Columbus could manufacture, including a pair of high-danger attempts during overlapping Colorado penalties in the second period.
Burns, Olofsson and the Solovyov Leap—First-Period Barrage
Brent Burns opened scoring 13:58 into the game, wiring a wrist shot off a Parker Kelly feed. The tally continued a torrid January for the 40-year-old blueliner—five goals in his last six home contests—and improved Colorado to a perfect 14-0 this season when striking first.
Victor Olofsson doubled the advantage just 3:31 later, snapping a 10-game goal drought with a one-time blast from the left circle set up by Gavin Brindley—the 2023 Columbus second-rounder now wearing burgundy after June’s Charlie Coyle–Miles Wood swap.
The period’s punctuation came from defenseman Ilya Solovyov, claimed off waivers from Calgary in October. His point shot pin-balled past Elvis Merzlikins for his first NHL marker, sending the Russian into the arms of—you guessed it—Burns at the bench in a celebration that instantly hit social feeds league-wide.
What the Numbers Say
- 17—consecutive home wins, tied for second-longest in franchise history.
- 19-0-2—Ball Arena record this season, best in the NHL.
- 29—saves by Miner, the first Avalanche goalie to post a shutout in his first home start since Pavel Francouz in 2020.
- 0-for-5—Columbus power-play on the road trip, now 1-for-19 in its last six games.
Blue Jackets Searching for Traction
Columbus has been outscored 15-4 on its four-game swing and dropped to 0-3 with one stop left (Sunday at Utah). Merzlikins, back after missing four weeks, stopped 27 shots but had zero goal support and little help from a penalty kill that spent 10:05 shorthanded.
Looking Ahead: Can the Streak Hit 18?
Monday’s visitor is Toronto, bringing the league’s second-ranked offense (4.02 goals per game) and a rested Anthony Stolarz. The chess match—Jared Bednar must decide between riding Miner’s hot hand or returning to Wedgewood—will dominate morning skate chatter. One more win and Colorado etches its name beside the 2022 Cup group; anything beyond that and the Red Wings’ 23-win record creeps onto the whiteboard.
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