In Denver, the visiting St Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington made 29 saves to help hold off a late surge from the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-3 win on Saturday night.
The game was the season opener for St Louis.
David Perron scored twice for the Blues.
“I’ve never taken so much heat (from teammates) for taking the time I needed to play today,” Perron, said. “I had to score one at least. ”
Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn and Perron scored three straight for the Blues for a 3-0 lead.
“We had a real good first period. Thought we came out, we were on our toes and got a lead,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “We just kind of lost our energy a little bit in the second period and we fed their transition game, kind of got on our heels a little bit. The third period was mixed for me.”
Andre Burakovsky answered for the Avs in the middle frame to cut the deficit to 1-3.
Perron’s second goal of the game came off the power play to give the Blues a 4-1 lead just ahead of a rally from the Avs.
“It’ll probably take a little bit to feel back to where I want it to be, but it was good I was able to get out there and contribute a little bit,” Perron said.
J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost scored later in the final period to cut the Blues lead to 4-3.
“We’re proud of the way we fought tonight, especially being down 4-1 late,” Compher said. “No one on the bench gave up, we stayed with it. Obviously, we wanted to win the game, but we’re proud of it, sticking with it the whole game.”
Ryan O’Reilly scored an empty-net goal to ice the win.
“We did a good job of just getting pucks toward the net,” Compher said. “None [of the goals] were pretty whatsoever, but they don’t have to be. They just have to get to the net to get in.”
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in the loss.
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