Rapid Recap: Blues 3, Avalanche 1

ST. LOUIS--The Colorado Avalanche lost its first game in regulation this season on Monday as the club fell 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.
Nathan MacKinnon scored the only goal for Colorado to tie the outing at 1-1 at 12:38 of the first period. Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen had assists on MacKinnon's marker, which extended his season-opening point streak to nine outings.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored and had three points (one goal, two assists), while Brayden Schenn and David Perron also tallied for St. Louis.

The Avs opened the season with a 7-0-1 record, the franchise's best mark after eight games and the second longest point streak to begin a campaign in the organization's history (9-0-2, 2000-01).
Statistics
|
Photo Gallery
|
Highlights
|
Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
10:07 STL (0-1) - PPG, Brayden Schenn's wrist shot from the right circle went top corner of the net to open the game's scoring.
12:38 COL (1-1) - PPG, Nathan MacKinnon tied the contest with a wrist shot from the high slot that found its way through traffic and past goalie Jordan Binnington. The marker came on a 5-on-3 and extended MacKinnon's season-opening point streak to nine games.
2nd Period
5:07 STL (1-2) - David Perron scored on a one-time snap shot in the slot during a delayed penalty.
15:06 STL (1-3) - Vladimir Tarasenko's shot from the right side found a crack and trickled across the goal line.
3rd Period
No Scoring
Final: Blues - 3 | Avalanche - 1

3 STARS

Selected by St. Louis media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 5
St. Louis: 1 for 5

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington made 17-of-18 saves

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon's goal extended his season-opening point streak to nine games, tying his career long to begin a campaign that he previously set last year. It also equals the longest such streak to begin a season in Avs history.
MacKinnon is the first player in franchise history and the fifth NHL player ever to record point streaks of nine games or more to start consecutive seasons. Wayne Gretzky is the most recent player to do so, accomplishing the feat four years in a row from the 1982-83 to 1985-86. Fellow Hockey Hall of Famers Guy Lafleur (10 games, 1975-76; 10 games, 1976-77) and Rod Gilbert (nine games, 1971-72; 14 games, 1972-73) also achieved the mark, as did Charley Simmer (nine games, 1979-80; 13 games, 1980-81).

NOTEBOOK

Nikita Zadorov skated in his 300th NHL game. He ranks third among active Russian defensemen in games played behind Winnipeg's Dmitry Kulikov (635 GP) and Washington's Dmitry Orlov (457 GP)… The Avalanche's point streak ends at eight games (7-0-1), it was the second longest to open a season in franchise history (2000-01, 9-0-2). It was the longest by any NHL team to open a campaign since the Montreal Canadiens began 2016-17 with a 10-game run (9-0-1)… Monday's matchup was first of five games this season between the Avalanche and Blues. The teams meet again on Dec. 16 in St. Louis.

QUOTABLE

Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog on the game:"It just felt like we weren't synced enough and didn't execute enough. Just too spread out. We look at the Tampa game, and we're chipping with speed, we had guys helping each other out in the O-zone and there were always guys supporting each other real closely and that way we being able to get out of scrums and things like that. Tonight we were just one guy working against two Blues players all the time. It's hard creating offense that way."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

You shall not pass.

ROSTER REPORT

The Avs used the same lineup for the third straight game… Philipp Grubauer made his seventh start of the season in net for Colorado… Mark Barberio, Vladislav Kamenev and Valeri Nichushkin were the healthy scratches.

INJURY UPDATE

Mikko Rantanen left in the first minute of the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

UP NEXT

Colorado returns home for three days before heading back out to complete its season-long road trip. The Avalanche plays at the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday in the first half of a back-to-back set that concludes in Denver on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
22 Colin Wilson - 17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 8 Cale Makar
27 Ryan Graves - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz
Scratches: Mark Barberio, Vladislav Kamenev, Valeri Nichushkin