The St. Louis Blues have started slowly in each of the past four seasons, but maybe this one will be different.
The Blues made a strong start on Friday, defeating the Dallas Stars 4-0 in the season opener. Now, the Blues have another task ahead of them as they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night in Denver.
The last time the Blues posted a winning record in October was 2021, when they finished the month 6-1-0 and ended the season 49-22-11. They reached the playoffs just once since, a first-round exit in 2025, so the emphasis on starting strong is a priority for St. Louis.
“I think it’s important,” Blues defenseman Philip Broberg said. “You don’t want to chase, you want to get off to a good start and everybody feeling good about their game and being confident. I think a good start is important and just keep building from that.
“I think every team talks about a good start. I think in the past we haven’t really had really good starts, so I think we want to put an emphasis on making sure we prepare” for the opening games.
Joel Hofer had 25 saves against the Stars on Friday night, so it likely will be Jordan Binnington in net against Colorado. Binnington played in just one of the three games against the Avalanche last season and allowed six goals on 43 shots in a 6-1 Colorado victory on New Year’s Eve.
While the Blues were battling in Dallas, the Avalanche were resting after opening the season with an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night. Colorado provided plenty of offense, scoring four times on the power play, but it let in two short-handed goals, continuing a trend from last season.
The Avalanche allowed an NHL-most 13 short-handed goals in 2025-26.
“Weird that we obviously gave up a couple on the power play there, but we found a way to capitalize a couple more on our power play,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “So trade off, but that can’t happen.”
Colorado’s roster for its opener included seven defensemen and 11 forwards, with blueliner Noah Juulsen getting some shifts on the fourth line. Head coach Jared Bednar likely will go with a more traditional lineup if winger Zachary L’Heureux is brought off injured reserve.
L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov were acquired from Nashville in a June deal that sent fellow forwards Jack Drury and Chase Bradley and a 2029 third-round draft pick to the Predators. L’Heureux has played in 87 NHL games over the last two seasons and is a physical player who can impact the game with that style.
“I think I’ve had a lot of success playing that kind of rat style, in-your-face hockey while still bringing a lot of offense,” L’Heureux said.
The offense is led by Nathan MacKinnon, who had two goals against the Kings and added a rare fight in the third period. The Avalanche led the NHL in scoring last season with 298 goals and may need to be that prolific if the defense plays like it did in the opener.
–Field Level Media
