Avalanche Down Blues 6-1, Improve to 2-0 With 14 Goals in Two Games

Colorado's core kept rolling and Gabriel Landeskog reached game No. 800 as the Avalanche opened the season 2-0 with a 6-1 win over St. Louis at Ball Arena.

The Colorado Avalanche moved to 2-0 with a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at Ball Arena, the team's first Saturday night home date of 2026-27. Colorado put six goals past the Blues before the second intermission and has now scored 14 times through two games — eight in Wednesday's season-opening win over the Los Angeles Kings and six more against St. Louis.

Colorado's core has carried its production straight into the new season. Nathan MacKinnon leads the team with five points, Martin Necas has four and Cale Makar three. Artturi Lehkonen, the other member of the top line, has added three goals and four points while playing out the final year of his contract.

Scoring has run well beyond the top line. Defenseman Josh Manson finished Saturday with a goal, an assist and a plus-4 rating, and he was on the ice for every Colorado goal after the first. Forward Nic Roy, another pending unrestricted free agent, has been effective in a depth role despite rotating linemates, with a pair of injuries forcing the Avalanche to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen since opening night.

In goal, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 of 26 shots. He gave up four goals on 31 shots in the opener, when long-range attempts — including two shorthanded goals — caused problems, but St. Louis generated little of that Saturday, and Blackwood made several stops early while the game was still within reach.

The offense has been steady across all situations. Colorado has already recorded two four-goal periods and has scored at least twice in each of its first five periods of the season.

Coach Jared Bednar has kept the minutes evenly distributed even while short a forward. No Colorado forward reached 20 minutes of ice time against the Kings, and Devon Toews was the only defenseman to get there at 20:04. Saturday followed a similar pattern, with T.J. Hughes leading the forwards at 19:56 and every skater logging at least 10 minutes.

The power play was the one area that stalled. Colorado went 0-for-4 in eight minutes of man-advantage time against the Blues after a more productive night Wednesday.

The schedule now turns. After opening with two home games, Colorado gets three days off before a back-to-back that begins Wednesday in Winnipeg and continues in Calgary, with a home game against Toronto next Saturday completing three games in four days. St. Louis, by contrast, opened its season Friday night in Dallas and then flew to Denver to face a rested Avalanche team that had yet to travel.

Saturday also marked a milestone for captain Gabriel Landeskog, who appeared in the 800th regular-season game of his career. He reached game 700 in November 2021 and needed nearly five more years to add the next 100.