Had to figure the Avalanche would come up with a strong response Friday in their rematch with St. Louis after getting outworked in a 4-1 season-opening loss on Wednesday.

Can’t say I expected the 8-0 pounding the Avalanche delivered, which included a franchise-matching five power-play goals.

Goalie Philipp Grubauer, in his second start, was the beneficiary. He did have to make a few tough saves among the 21 he had in posting his 12th career shutout, his sixth since arriving in Colorado.

Here is the NHL.com GAME RECAP.

“It was incredible to watch, definitely a big step up from the first game, total opposite,” Grubauer said. “We were playing on all cylinders and that’s the standard we need to keep all year.”

Quite the standard.

Coach Jared Bednar reinserted Gabriel Landeskog on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen after Andre Burakovsky played in that spot Wednesday. The trio combined for four goals and three assists.

Grubauer was happy to join in on the offensive action, picking up an assist on Burakovsky’s power-play goal in the second period when the Avalanche scored four times for a 4-0 lead.

When Grubauer went to retrieve a loose puck and flip it to Burakovsky, he accidentally clipped Blues forward Jaden Schwartz with his follow-through.

It was his second career assist, his first with the Avalanche.

"I told the guys in the locker room if they want to score just give me the puck first," he joked. "Guys made it really easy for me. Compared to the first game, I think we were a little bit all over the place, and today we were really structured and we were working hard.

“We were skating, we were checking and when we are doing that it makes it really, really easy for me."

Landeskog collected his 199th and 200th career goals, Rantanen his 100th, and MacKinnon moved within two points of 500. Eight players had at least two points; Cale Makar had three assists.

"You don't play the game to reach these milestones, you play the game to help the team win, and obviously scoring goals helps the team win and things like that," Landeskog said. "It's just nice to get on the scoresheet and I am sure down the road, maybe when you're done, it's something you're proud of for sure."

Defenseman Devon Toews, playing his second game in an Avalanche uniform, picked up his first point on Joonas Donskoi’s goal with 7:58 left in the third period and his first goal on a power play with 5:04 remaining to close out the scoring.

The Avalanche went 5-of-7 on power plays and killed four penalties.

"It was great, the power play got clicking," MacKinnon said. "It was great to see a lot of different guys start feeling it and chip in. We're just trying to establish ourselves.”

And how.

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The Avalanche made several roster moves Saturday, announcing on Twitter, as defensemen Erik Johnson and Bowen Byram were scheduled to skate after completing their quarantines. Johnson wasn’t permitted in the practice facility during camp after testing positive for COVID-19 until he went through medical protocols.

Byram, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, had to stay away for seven days after arriving from Canada following the World Junior Championship tournament.

Johnson is back and Bowen has gone from the AHL Eagles to the taxi squad. Defenseman Conor Timmins was moved to the taxi squad after playing in the first two games.

Forwards Shane Bowers and Logan O'Connor were reassigned from the taxi squad to the Eagles.

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The Blues were upset at Valeri Nichushkin for a shoulder hit against defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who was on his first shift, behind the St. Louis net. Bortuzzo finished off the final eight seconds of the shift, played two seconds on his third shift and left with an upper-body injury.

Blues coach Craig Berube was hopeful the NHL Player Safety Department would take a look and hold a hearing for Nichushkin, but that isn't going to happen.

“After talking with the NHL, I was told they feel this play is within the rules,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Each year you allow the league to set the guidelines and you play within the boundaries. We now know the boundaries for this type of hit.”



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