Rapid Recap: Blues 5, Avalanche 2

ST. LOUIS--David Perron scored three times for the St Louis Blues, and the Colorado Avalanche fell 5-2 at Enterprise Center on Monday.
The Avs received goals from Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen and saw their nine-game point streak (8-0-1) come to an end. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 31-of-35 shots in his first game back in the crease since getting hurt on Dec. 7 at the Boston Bruins.
Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves and Nathan MacKinnon had assists for Colorado.

Vince Dunn and Jordan Kyrou also scored for St. Louis, which tallied four straight in the final 21:13 after trailing 2-1 in the second period. Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.
Colorado and St. Louis will meet again at Pepsi Center on Jan. 2. The next three meetings will be played in Denver.
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Highlights
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
18:51 STL (0-1) - Ryan O'Reilly passed the puck to an open David Perron backdoor, and Perron scored into an open net.
2nd Period
0:55 COL (1-1) - Nazem Kadri won a faceoff back to Ryan Graves. Graves then passed it back to Kadri, who slipped it under Jordan Binnington's pad for his 11th tally of the season.
9:35 COL (2-1) - PPG, Mikko Rantanen scored top shelf on the power play to give Colorado the lead. Samuel Girard and Nathan MacKinnon assisted on the tally.
18:47 STL (2-2) - PPG, David Perron recorded his second of the night with a near-side shot while on the power play.
19:23 STL (2-3) - PPG, Vince Dunn scored while on the power play to regain the lead for St. Louis.
3rd Period
11:24 STL (2-4) - Jordan Kyrou extended the Blues' lead with a wraparound shot.
16:05 STL (2-5) - ENG, David Perron scored into an empty net to complete the hat trick.
Final: Blues - 5 | Avalanche - 2
3 STARS
Selected by St. Louis media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 on 2
St. Louis: 2 on 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer played for the first time since Dec. 7 and made 31 saves.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Samuel Girard blocked five shots to set a new career best for a game, surpassing his previous high of four the he had reached six times earlier.

NOTEBOOK

Nathan MacKinnon recorded his 51st point of the year with an assist on Mikko Rantanen's marker to regain sole possession of third place in the league's scoring race this year... Valeri Nichushkin's five hits matched his career high (also: Feb. 26, 2019 at Vegas)... The Avalanche was held to fewer than three goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 21 at Minnesota. Colorado remains tops in the league in goals per game, averaging 3.61... Colorado finished 1-for-2 on the power play, the second straight game it has notched a goal with the man advantage... This is the second of five meetings between the Avalanche and Blues this season and the final matchup in St. Louis. The Blues and Minnesota Wild are the only Central Division opponents to meet the Avs five times this campaign... Colorado saw its point streak end at nine games (8-0-1) and its road winning streak end at four contests. The Avalanche and Bruins are the only NHL teams to have two point streaks of eight or more games this year.

QUOTABLE

Joonas Donskoi on the game: "It felt like a playoff game to me at least. They won last year so they play hard, they play physical, that is how it is going to be when we are getting closer to the playoffs. Like I said, it was a good lesson and we can get a lot out of this game and we can get a lot better."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Fighting for the puck

ROSTER REPORT
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer started the contest between the pipes. It was his first time seeing game action since Dec. 7 at the Boston Bruins… Forward Vladislav Kamenev and defenseman Anton Lindholm were Colorado's healthy scratches.

INJURY UPDATE

Defensemen Erik Johnson (lower body) and Cale Makar (upper body) continue to rehab their respective injuries in Denver… Colin Wilson (lower body) is out indefinitely after having surgery.

UP NEXT

Colorado completes its two-game, Central Division road trip at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. The contest in Chicago is the first half of a back-to-back for the Avs, as they will then return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
83 Matt Nieto - 17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
16 Nikita Zadorov - 49 Samuel Girard
27 Ryan Graves - 28 Ian Cole
48 Calle Rosen - 44 Mark Barberio
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz