The Colorado Avalanche put on a clinic in their season opener against Los Angeles on Wednesday night!
Tonight marks the first head-to-head match within the Central Division, with the St. Louis Blues making their first trip to Denver of the season.
Colorado Avalanche (1-0-0)
The Opponent: St. Louis Blues (1-0-0)
Time: 7:00 P.M. MDT/9:00 P.M. EDT
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avs, having had four months to stew over being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights in May, took out their frustrations on former netminder Darcy Kuemper on their way to a lopsided 8-4 victory. The power play, which had been the Avs undoing against Vegas, got off to an impressive start. Brock Nelson led all skaters with three (3) power play points, including the game’s first goal (as I boldly predicted). Artturi Lehkonen scored two power play goals, and Nathan MacKinnon added another. In total, seven skaters collected points on the power play.
T.J. Hughes spent some time on the top power play unit, but the Avs rookie also had a turnover that Los Angeles capitalized on to keep the game close in the second period (spoilers). He had a respectable 13:35 of ice time and earned a roughing penalty after giving Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke an extra shove after Clarke sent Cale Makar to the ice.
MacKinnon would also score another goal in this contest and, in the third period, put his goal-scoring hands to work in a brief but decisive fight against Clarke.
Newcomer Jaden Schwartz also tallied a pair of assists in his Avalanche debut.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 27 of 31 shots in his first win of the season. He did, however, have some struggles at various points in the game. While the Avs dined out on their power play, Los Angeles also capitalized on two shorthanded goals during the second period (one off a turnover by Hughes), with both shots beating Blackwood from long range. While one game is the definitive definition of a small sample size, giving up a shorthanded goal—let alone two—is far from ideal in any respect.
When asked on Friday about having patience in working through cleaning up mistakes early in the season, head coach Jared Bednar said, “We want to get to a high level of play on both sides of the puck as fast as we can. I think the teams that do that the quickest are going to set themselves up for success here early in the season.”
Bednar also said there was a possibility that Zachary L’Heureux might be available for today’s game, but it would depend on how he looks during morning skate. Bednar didn’t seem optimistic that Logan O’Connor would be ready to go for today’s game, though.
The Avs won the season series against St. Louis last season two games to one. Their most recent victory came on April 07, a 3-1 decision at Enterprise Center.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy
Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Noah Juulsen
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
St. Louis Blues
Former Blues general manager Doug Armstrong gave his successor Alex Steen a few parting gifts before riding off into the sunset this summer. He acquired left wing Connor McMichael on June 23 from the Washington Capitals along with their 2026 first-round draft pick and center Milton Gastrin; Steen signed the young forward to a six-year, $40.5 million contract on July 16. Armstrong also acquired young center Mason McTavish from the Anaheim Ducks on June 26. McTavish had just signed a six-year contract with Anaheim the season before and will be a fixture as the Blues’ second-line center for years to come.
On defense, Armstrong acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from Toronto for a pair of third-round picks in this year’s draft. Carlo will provide a veteran presence on the blue line to shore up the loss of Torey Krug, who remains on injured reserve. On the opposite end of the age spectrum, twenty-one-year-old Adam Jiříček and twenty-year-old Theo Lindstein have been penciled into the St. Louis defensive lineup.
St. Louis began their season on Friday evening against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. McTavish scored his first goal as a Blue—which ultimately stood as the game-winner—just barely over a minute and a half into the game. Dalibor Dvorský added a goal in the second period, while Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter scored two empty-net goals in the third period to secure a 4-0 victory. Goaltender Joel Hofer stopped all twenty-four shots he faced for his first shutout win of the season.
The game was not without controversy. Early in the third period, Carlo made a dangerous knee-on-knee hit against Stars center Roope Hintz. Hintz did return to the game shortly after the hit, while Carlo earned a five-minute major and was ejected.
In postgame comments, St. Louis head coach Jim Montgomery said Hofer “was [their] best penalty killer” and that he thinks he is “a goalie that’s blossoming into a potential top-ten goalie in the League”.
Montgomery was also very complimentary towards Jiříček. “He looked like he’s been in the League for three years,” he said. “He was calm; he made plays in the second [period] where we were not at our best, and […] it was impressive how calm he looked.”
With Hofer getting the start in Dallas, expect Jordan Binnington to start in goal for St. Louis tonight. Loved by some and reviled by many, Binnington is entering the last year of his six-year contract with St. Louis. With Hofer being positioned to succeed him as the starter in goal, this season may be the final one in a Blues sweater for the thirty-three-year-old Binnington.
Montgomery also said that right-wing Alexsey Toropchenko, who was injured early in the Dallas game, is “more than day-to-day” but is waiting for more information on his status as of this writing.
St. Louis’ last victory over Colorado came on April 5th, a 3-2 victory at Ball Arena.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Dylan Holloway – Robert Thomas – Jimmy Snuggerud
Pavel Buchnevich – Mason McTavish – Connor McMichael
Jake Neighbours – Dalibor Dvorský – Jonatan Berggren
Dillon Dubé – Pius Suter – Ross Johnston
Defense:
Philip Broberg – Adam Jiříček
Theo Lindstein – Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler – Brandon Carlo
Between the Pipes:
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
