Two games into the 2026-27 season, the Colorado Avalanche have already flashed the part of their game that should make the rest of the NHL nervous: they’re not just piling up goals, they’re cleaning up the messes that came with them.
Colorado opened with an 8-4 wild one and then came back Saturday night with a much more controlled 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
The scoreboard still looked like an avalanche, but this one came with structure. The Avs built a 2-0 lead while allowing only four shots in the first period, then held St.
Louis off the board until Dalibor Dvorsky scored 2:34 into the third.
Head coach Jared Bednar liked what he saw far more than he did after Game 1.
"I can't think of one thing that we talked about after last game and went through that we didn't implement in our game and improve on," Bednar said after Saturday's win in the postgame interview.
That was a sharp turnaround from his reaction after the opener, when he called the rush coverage “woof.” Against the Blues, Bednar said, "We were 100 times better off the rush," and added, "We were closing plays out quickly in the [defensive] zone."
He also pointed to the team’s habits, its exits out of the defensive zone, and the way Colorado handled rush defense. The end result looked like the kind of complete performance a coach wants to see in April, not just in early October.
The offense was still very much there. Martin Necas scored twice and added an assist, Nathan MacKinnon had three assists, and Artturi Lehkonen finished with a goal and an assist.
Nicolas Roy and Josh Manson also had a goal and an assist apiece, while Cale Makar scored his first goal of the season. Colorado’s top line of Lehkonen, MacKinnon and Necas combined for eight points.
Through two games, the Avalanche have scored 14 goals, matching the franchise record set by the 1992-93 Quebec Nordiques. They’ve scored at least six times in both outings. That kind of pace won’t last forever, and no one is pretending it will, but the early message is obvious: the chances are there, and they’re finishing them.
For Necas, the connection between the two ends of the ice is the whole point.
"I feel like when we play good defense, we don't spend much time in our own end," Necas said after the game. "And we have the firepower to create chances offensively. So, it starts in our own end, and then we go from there."
Mackenzie Blackwood gave Colorado another layer of security in net. After allowing four goals on 31 shots against Los Angeles, he stopped 25 of 26 against St.
Louis. The Avalanche’s offense made sure he didn’t need to be perfect, either, with the team already ahead 6-0 before the Blues finally got on the board.
That’s the version Colorado wants to keep showing: plenty of offense, but without having to live in a shootout every night.
The big question coming into the season wasn’t whether the Avalanche could score. It was whether they could keep opponents from hanging around when the offense didn’t explode. Two games is a tiny sample, but Colorado has already shown it can make adjustments fast.
Bednar summed it up this way: "The things that we liked out of the first game, they were multiplied in this one," he said. "And the things that we didn't like were so much better."
That’s the early sign the rest of the league should be watching.
In Other News...
Artturi Lehkonen Is Giving The Avalanche A Tough Decision Fast
Artturi Lehkonen has wasted no time making his presence felt for Colorado, opening the NHL season with three goals in two games for the best two-game start of his career. It is the kind of early surge that fits his reputation, because coaches and teammates have long pointed to his work ethic, competitiveness and reliable style as the reasons he keeps showing up in key moments for the Avalanche.
The timing, though, adds another layer for Colorado to sort through. Lehkonen is in the final year of his current contract and still does not have a new deal in place, which means the Avalanche are already getting a reminder of how valuable he can be while facing an increasingly tough decision about what comes next. When a player who has built his value on consistency starts scoring this quickly, the conversation tends to move beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Bring Early Firepower Into First Showdown With The Blues
The Avalanche wasted no time showing what their offense can look like this season, putting up eight goals in their opener against the Kings and setting a franchise mark for scoring in a season opener. Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice, and that kind of balance is exactly what Colorado wants to carry into a long season where the Central Division offers little room for slow starts.
St. Louis arrives in Denver with a different kind of opening statement after blanking the Stars 4-0 behind Joel Hofers 25-save shutout. The Blues and Avalanche are set to meet four times this season, beginning at Ball Arena, and the contrast in their first games adds a little extra bite to a series both sides will be watching closely from the start. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Stars Turned This Into A Statement Against St. Louis Early
Cale Makar and Martin Necas wasted little time setting the tone against St. Louis, striking early to give Colorado a two-goal lead in the first period. It was the kind of start the Avalanche were looking for, with the pace and pressure quickly putting the Blues on their heels and giving Colorado a chance to dictate the game from the jump.
Josh Manson and Nicolas Roy kept the momentum rolling in the second period, extending the cushion and turning an already strong opening into a comfortable advantage. Colorado controlled much of the night and made the most of its scoring chances, a performance that looked less like a routine win and more like a statement delivered early and reinforced all game long. [Read more 🡒]