Bowen Byram lifts Avs over Blues in 4-1 win

Back in Denver, Cale Makar practiced in a regular contact jersey, Justus Annunen got in some important one on one with Jussi Parkkila and the team went wheels up.

Colorado landed in St. Louis the day before their matinee: the first leg of another back-to-back.

Jared Bednar confirmed the team would run 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. With the recall of Ben Meyers, the forward group was set. Makar officially returned to the lineup, but Josh Manson was out.

Colorado’s medical staff wanted Manson to sit out as a precaution because of the nature of his injury and the length of time it took to recover.

But none of this touched the biggest news of the last 24 hours. One of the biggest names of the deadline came off the trade board and the St. Louis Blues would lose their first-line center and captain.

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari in a three-team trade with St. Louis & Minnesota.

The Blues received Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette, Toronto’s first round pick in 2023, Ottawa’s third round pick in 2023, and Toronto’s second round pick in 2024. Minnesota got involved and received Toronto’s fourth round pick in 2025.

For today’s game, the Blues would have to do it without O’Reilly and Acciari. In net for Colorado, Annunen would receive his second career NHL start. Annunen has been the primary starter in Loveland and has earned a steady 0.912 save percentage on the year so far.

First Period

Justus Annunen was tested early with one of the first saves of the game. The Avs did a decent job of keeping the Blues’ chances to a minimum, particularly the dangerous ones.

Past the midway point, J.T. Compher accidentally tipped the puck out of play in the defensive zone and a delay of game was called. Jordan Kyrou and Justin Faulk managed to get a shot on net a piece, but the kill was good.

Where the Avs helped to take pressure off Annunen came about through sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Colorado controlled possession significantly more than their last first period against Minnesota.

At 16:37 into the period, the Avs cycled the puck and established the zone. MacKinnon skated into the slot and passed to Mikko Rantanen at the bottom of the right circle. Rantanen wristed the puck short side and scored his 200th career goal.

The Avs rounded out the period outshooting the Blues 15-5.

Second Period

Two minutes into its start, Ben Meyers drew a powerplay. Colorado set up on the PP. Cale Makar was back to his rightful place running powerplay one. The first unit had some promising setups to the slot, but they were unable to finish.

Five minutes later, Byram smoothly collected a rebound in the Avs end and begins the breakout with a pass to Girard. Girard moved the puck up ice to Mikko Rantanen on the exit. In the neutral zone, Byram applied speed and got himself to the front of the play to receive Rantanen’s pass and enter the Blues’ zone.

With just Colton Parayko to challenge him, Byram snapped the puck glove side and in.

A Kurtis MacDermid crosscheck a minute later could have interrupted the budding momentum, but the kill continued to be effective this time allowing just one shot on net.

Evan Rodrigues, who recently took a puck to the face on a failed clear in first the Tampa Bay game, took a stick to the face at 12:24.

The second powerplay struggled a bit more to set up in the offensive zone. Broken plays led to a lot of resetting and their best chance came at the tail end from Devon Toews with a shot from up high.

As the period winded down, as hockey tends to do, a split-second mistake led to a goal.

Sam Girard intended to clear the puck out with an angled play, but it found Logan Brown parked outside the blueline instead. The Blues were able to exit and reset. Brown passed to Jordan Kyrou down low and Kyrou tapped it to Sammy Blais who dove to wrist the puck in past Annunen.

Englund could have stepped in just a hair more to close the seam between Brown to Kyrou and Girard could have gotten a stick or body on the pass from Kyrou to Blais.

St. Louis climbed back into this game a bit more in this frame. The shots were tied at 9-9 apiece, but the Avs still had the advantage in offensive zone time, and Colorado’s penalty kill remained perfect.

Third Period

Early into the period, Evan Rodrigues drew a tripping penalty and the Avs went back on the powerplay.

This was one of the best of the game. Colorado had an attempt blocked, four shots on net, and the final of those four resulted in a goal.

MacKinnon sent the puck into traffic through the slot. Artturi Lehkonen fished it out and cleverly dished it to Val Nichushkin planted at the crease. Nichushkin batted it in and scored.

Unfortunately, earlier in the powerplay at 18:17, Cale Makar collided with Alexey Toropchenko and was visibly shaken. Makar went down the tunnel for further evaluation especially given the close proximity to his concussion on February 7th. Makar did return to the bench and resumed play.

Later, Ben Meyers drew his second penalty of the game. Colorado had another successful PP. The second power play unit got it done this time. Alex Newhook dropped the puck to Compher. Compher’s shot rebounded out, and Girard pulled in to retrieve it. He found Byram at the right circle, and Byram one-timed the puck in to lift the Avs to 4-1.

The Avs closed out the period. It was apparent they wanted to implement team defense that supported Justus Annunen as best as possible. St. Louis only managed 20 shots on the night, and even though Colorado was focused on defense, they continued to create even in the third.

Colorado earned the win and would return home for another afternoon game at home against the Edmonton Oilers. The penalty kill was perfect through three chances. The Avs scored on two of their four power plays. It was a successful outing.

Observations:

Mikko Rantanen, St. Louis Blues killer:

Rantanen scored 6 points against St. Louis this season prior to today’s game in three prior match-ups including a hat trick against them in December. Not only is his 200th career goal a milestone marker, it comes about against seemingly one of his favorite opponents to score against.

Rantanen is among the team’s franchise leaders in points against St. Louis – of the current Avs, only Gabriel Landeskog (29) and Nathan MacKinnon (44) have more than him with significantly more games. With a goal and an assist today, he now has 26 points and is set to top Landeskog who has reasonably missed opportunities of his own this season.

With two assists tonight, MacKinnon career total also rises to 46 points against St. Louis, so he’s quietly a killer too.

Back-to-back strategy:

I asked Andrew Cogliano if the team modifies their strategy in response to back-to-backs in favor of something more conservative: “It’s probably the opposite,” he said. “I think you empty the tank. Next week, we’re going on a four-day break. These are two big games. We’ll be just like the last two games. You push as hard as you can go and then you rest afterward.”

A strong first period supported the intensity Cogliano talked about playing with. I’ve seen worse second periods. The Avs give up one goal, but they equalize it with one of their own and hold onto the lead from the first period.

In the third, two goals before the ten-minute mark corroborate a well-earned victory. The Avs may have let up on generating chances of their own a bit, but strong defensive play from their forwards bolstered their defensive group in the absence of Josh Manson and kept the workload lighter for Justus Annunen.