Jonathan Drouin had two goals and added an assist, Martin Necas scored his first goal with Colorado, and the Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 5-0 in Denver on Friday night.
Mackenzie Blackwood had 19 saves for his first shutout with Colorado and second this season. Cale Makar and Joel Kiviranta also scored to give Necas and Jack Drury a successful debut in Denver.
The Avalanche acquired Necas and Drury on Jan. 24 in a trade with Carolina. Colorado sent leading goal scorer Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes.
Joel Hofer turned away 31 shots for St. Louis, which has lost four in a row. The Blues have lost five of their last six games.
Drouin got Colorado started early in the first period when Juuso Parssinen sent a pass from behind the net to the front of the crease, and Drouin tapped it in out of midair at 4:57.
Necas made it 2-0 less than three minutes later when he carried the puck into the zone and sent a shot past Hofer at 7:39 for his fifth point since the trade.
Colorado’s dormant power play came alive in the latter part of the first. Drouin got his second of the night at 14:43 when Alexey Toropchenko’s clearing attempt from in front of the net went right to Drouin, who beat Hofer with a shot high. It was his second two-goal game of the season.
The Avalanche added another goal on the man advantage when they worked the puck around the St. Louis zone to Makar at the point. Makar drifted to his right and sent a wrister through a screen and in at 17:25.
It was the first time Colorado has scored two goals on the power play since Dec. 19. Kiviranta iced the game with a goal at 13:21 of the third period.
–Field Level Media
