Preview: The Avs Host “Arch”-Rival St. Louis Tonight

Tonight marks the first head-to-head match within the Central Division, with the St. Louis Blues making their first trip to Denver of the season.

The Avs, having had four months to stew over being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights in May, took out their frustrations on former netminder Darcy Kuemper on their way to a lopsided 8-4 victory. The power play, which had been the Avs undoing against Vegas, got off to an impressive start. Brock Nelson led all skaters with three (3) power play points, including the game's first goal ( as I boldly predicted ). Artturi Lehkonen scored two power play goals, and Nathan MacKinnon added another. In total, seven skaters collected points on the power play.

T.J. Hughes spent some time on the top power play unit, but the Avs rookie also had a turnover that Los Angeles capitalized on to keep the game close in the second period (spoilers). He had a respectable 13:35 of ice time and earned a roughing penalty after giving Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke an extra shove after Clarke sent Cale Makar to the ice.