In Columbus, the Blue Jackets hit for three goals in the middle frame on Monday night to take a 3-0 lead over the visiting Colorado Avalanche into the third period.
Alex Nylander hit for a double in the second period outburst.
“It feels really good,” Nylander said. “Just got to keep going the way I’ve been playing and just have the same mentally (being) prepared for every game here.”
Daniil Tarasov made 45 saves in the win.
Columbus moved to 25-38-12.
“Overall, we played a real smart game. That’s a real fast team,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “I think our ‘D’ did a real good job at controlling the gap throughout the game.”
Kirill Marchenko scored midway through the second period to get the outburst started, scoring off a deflection.
Nylander then hit for his double.
His first came at 14:12 for a 2-0 lead to Columbus, scoring from the right circle.
“The second period, our game kind of went away,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We didn’t execute well enough in the offensive zone. The bulk of their chances in the second period came off turnovers in our offensive zone.”
Nylander collected his double at 18:03 for a 3-0 lead after the first 40 minutes.
“We just stuck with it (in the second),” Nylander said. “We know we have to be better in that area, and we really focus on playing a full 60 (minutes) even though we’ve had really good starts.”
The Avalanche dropped to 47-22-6 off their third loss in four matches.
“We had some looks, for sure, to score more than one,” the Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen said. “We had almost 50 shots, so usually you get more than one. [Tarasov] had a good game tonight.
“Obviously, we’ve lost three out of four now. We’ve got to look at some things and try to improve.”
In the third, the Avs’ Chris Wagner trimmed the deficit to 3-1 at 4:39, scoring off a deflection of a shot from the point.
“A 3-0 lead going into the third period against a team like that is always a little scary,” the Blue K]Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson said. “They got one back, but we did a very good job of bending today but not breaking. [Tarasov] was stellar again.”
Tarasov made 18 saves in the third period.
“I’m just trying to play simple, trying to be confident and get the chances for our guys,” Tarasov said.
Columbus iced the win when Cole Sillinger hit an empty net at 18:27 for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard 
Justus Annunen made 21 saves in the loss.
“Frustrating night because we really wanted to focus on our starts because they haven’t been good enough,” Bednar said. “We’ve been digging holes early in games, and usually the first period.
“I actually liked our first period tonight. Our conscience was good on the defensive side of the puck. I liked some of the chances we created, first shift moving on through the period. Disappointed we didn’t get rewarded with one there.”
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