The Avalanche’s first test of the season was a wild one, and now comes the next challenge: the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Colorado is 1-0-0 after hanging an 8-4 loss on the Los Angeles Kings in its opener, a game that set a franchise record for goals in a season opener. St.
Louis arrives at 1-0-0 as well, coming off a 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars. This is the first of four meetings between the division rivals, with the rest of the season series set for December 8 in St.
Louis, December 29 in Denver and January 28 in Missouri.
Wednesday’s opener had just about everything for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen scored twice apiece, while Brock Nelson, Parker Kelly, Nicolas Roy and Gabriel Landeskog also found the net. Colorado’s power play clicked four times in five chances, and the penalty kill went a perfect four for four.
The scoring started early when Nelson buried a power-play goal at 6:33 of the first period, finishing a chance set up by Jaden Schwartz for Schwartz’s first point as an Av. Los Angeles answered at 15:14 on a Brian Dumoulin goal from the top of the left circle, but Colorado quickly reclaimed the lead when Kelly scored at 17:58 off the rush.
MacKinnon took over from there. He scored 23 seconds into the second period on the power play, then added another at 8:33 off a Martin Necas drop pass.
Roy made it 5-2 during a scramble in front at 16:01, and Lehkonen stretched the lead to 6-3 with a power-play one-timer at 18:34. Los Angeles chipped back twice in the period, including a shorthanded goal from Trevor Moore at 17:50, but Colorado kept pressing.
The third period brought more of the same. The Kings cut it to 6-4 on a delayed penalty goal from Artemi Panarin at 11:51, but Landeskog answered at 14:03 from below the left goal line. Lehkonen finished the night with his second power-play goal at 15:06, closing the door on the 8-4 final.
MacKinnon’s start has him tied for fifth in the NHL with two goals. Cale Makar is tied for fifth among defensemen with two assists and tied for eighth with two points, while Brock Nelson is tied for 10th in the league with two assists and three points.
There’s also plenty of history in this matchup. Colorado has gone 65-48-6-7 in 126 regular-season games against St.
Louis, and the Avalanche have won all four of the playoff series between the clubs. That run includes the 2001 Western Conference Final in five games, the 2021 First Round in four, the 2022 Second Round in six, and a 2-1 win in a Western Conference Round Robin game in 2020.
St. Louis comes in after blanking Dallas 4-0 on Friday at American Airlines Center.
Mason McTavish opened the scoring at 1:34 of the first period, Dalibor Dvorsky added another at 13:05 of the second, and the Blues padded the lead with empty-net goals from Jimmy Snuggerud at 17:37 and Pius Suter at 17:52 of the third. Joel Hofer stopped all 25 shots for the shutout.
Colorado’s top performers against the Blues have been productive for a long time. MacKinnon has 58 points in 53 regular-season games against St.
Louis, plus 17 points in 11 playoff games. Makar has 29 points in 27 regular-season matchups and six more in 11 playoff games.
Necas has 11 points in 13 games against the Blues.
On the St. Louis side, Snuggerud and Suter are tied for the team lead in goals, assists and points with one goal, one assist and two points each. McTavish and Dvorak are tied for the team lead in goals, while Connor McMichael, Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko are tied for the club lead in assists.
Landeskog is scheduled to skate in his 800th regular-season NHL game Saturday, and he enters it with 607 points in 799 games.
After the opener, Makar summed up the Avalanche’s approach this way: “I liked our compete. I felt like there were times we were kind of lacking a little bit of neutral zone in the first and second.
We chatted after the second period with everybody, and (felt) like we really tightened that up. [We] had good back pressure and kind of kept them to a minimum.
Still gave up a lot of chances, but I liked where our heads are at as a group."
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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 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 🡒]
Avalanche Fans Got An Early Look At A Goalie Worth Watching
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Nikita Prishchepov and Jake Wise supplied the offense, while Gustav Stjernberg and Yanick Turcotte picked up assists in a game where the Eagles did enough at both ends to stay in control. Colorado came up empty on four power-play chances, but the penalty kill was perfect, and Nabokovs calm night in net was the biggest reason the result never drifted. [Read more 🡒]