Open Thread: St. Louis Blues @ Colorado Avalanche (7:00 P.M. MT)

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. Artturi Lehkonen scored two power play goals, and Nathan MacKinnon added another. In total, seven skaters collected points on the power play.

MacKinnon would also score another goal in this contest and, in the third period, put his goal-scoring hands to work in a brief but decisive fight against Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke.