Rapid Recap: Avalanche 4, Blues 3

The Colorado Avalanche scored three goals in the second period and won 4-3 versus the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday at Enterprise Center.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, J.T. Compher, Mikko Rantanen and Brandon Saad recorded goals for the Avs. Compher and Rantanen both added an assist each while Liam O'Brien (two assists) also had a multi-point outing.

The contest was tied 1-1 after the first period, but Colorado received markers from Compher, Rantanen and Saad to create a healthy lead. The Blues scored twice in the third to cut the deficit to one, but the Avs held on for their fourth straight victory.
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made his Avalanche debut and stopped 31 shots.
Mike Hoffman scored twice for the Blues in the third period. Vince Dunn tallied in the opening frame.

THE GOALS

1st Period
10:28 COL (1-0) - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a pass from Liam O'Brien and scored on a snap shot from the left circle.
15:20 STL (1-1) - PPG, Vince Dunn redirected a pass from the slot into the goal.
2nd Period
2:52 COL (2-1) - J.T. Compher cleaned up a rebound in the crease for a goal following Conor Timmins' original shot being deflected in front by Liam O'Brien.
5:17 COL (3-1) - PPG, Mikko Rantanen scored a one-timer from the right point.
11:17 COL (4-1) - Tyson Jost threw a centering pass to the slot for Brandon Saad, who scored.
3rd Period
5:55 STL (4-2) - From below the goal line, Mike Hoffman threw the puck off goaltender Devan Dubnyk and into the cage.
16:44 COL (4-3) - PPG, Mike Hoffman's one-time shot from the right circle went off the Avs goalie and across the goal line.
Final: Avalanche - 4 | Blues - 3

3 STARS

Selected by St. Louis media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 3
St. Louis: 2 for 4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Devan Dubnyk made his Avalanche debut and made 31 saves on 34 shots.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 28 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Jared Bednar coached his 359th career game, tying Bob Hartley for the most games coached in Avalanche history (since 1995-96). Michel Bergeron (634) holds the franchise mark set during the club's time in Quebec.
Bednar owns a 175-145-39 (.542) career record, ranking second in wins to only Hartley's 193 since the team moved to Denver.

NOTEBOOK

Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 11 games (7g/11a), the longest active one in the NHL… Tyson Jost added an assist and is now on a career-long four-game point streak (four assists). Mikko Rantanen is on a six-game point streak (5g/4a) and Cale Makar is on a three-game run (four assists)... Liam O'Brien recorded two primary assists for his first career multi-point game... Colorado improved to 4-1-0 after five contests of the eight-game season series against St. Louis, winning four games in a row... The Avs became the first team to 30 wins after 43 games, something no Avalanche/Nordiques club has ever reached in fewer than 47 games. The club's 64 points earned are the most by the team through 43 games in franchise history... Colorado is 9-1-0 in its last 10 games and 17-1-2 in its last 20, the best 20-game stretch in franchise history (previous record was 16-1-1-2 stretch from Jan. 23-March 5, 2003).

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

No goal for you.

ROSTER REPORT

Carl Soderberg played his first game of the season with the Avalanche, skating on a line with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk started his first contest with Colorado, while Jonas Johansson was the backup. Tyson Jost centered a trio with Brandon Saad and Valeri Nichushkin. Conor Timmins played his first game with the Avs since March 6 and was paired on defense with Jacob MacDonald.

INJURY UPDATE

Philipp Grubauer missed his first outing of the season due to injury/illness, as he entered the NHL's COVID-19 protocol on Wednesday. He will need to quarantine for at least 10 days. Rookie defenseman Bowen Byram is also in protocol and is dealing with an upper-body injury. Joonas Donskoi missed his first game of the year, as he was dealing with symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine along with the rest of his teammates following Monday's game. Newly-acquired defenseman Patrik Nemeth is dealing with a minor upper-body injury. Matt Calvert (upper body) is out week-to-week, while Logan O'Connor (lower body) is out long term. Erik Johnson (upper body) could return late in the playoffs, and Pavel Francouz (lower body) will return next season after having offseason surgery to help fix his lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche returns home for a two-game set against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Sunday. The team returns to St. Louis for a three-game series to wrap up the yearly set versus the Blues on Tuesday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
34 Carl Soderberg - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
20 Brandon Saad - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
38 Liam O'Brien - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 7 Devon Toews
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
26 Jacob MacDonald - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
40 Devan Dubnyk
35 Jonas Johansson