BLUES The St. Louis Blues held on for a 5-3 victory in their season opener on Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche.
Jordan Binnington stopped 29 of 32 shots in a stellar outing while David Perron led the way with two goals.
Justin Faulk, Brayden Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly also contributed goals for the Blues, who held off a late Avalanche rally in the third period. St. Louis will continue their three-game road trip on Monday night against the Coyotes before wrapping up Wednesday in Vegas.
"We had a real good first period. Thought we came out, we were on our toes and got a lead," Blues Head Coach Berube said after Saturday's win. "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."
COYOTES The Arizona Coyotes have opened the 2021-22 season with back-to-back losses on the road. Last Thursday, the team was embarrassed in a 8-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Saturday they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout.
Monday's game will be Arizona's home opener against the Blues.
General Manager Bill Armstrong, who recently served as the Blues Assistant GM and Director of Amateur Scouting, has begun to rebuild the Coyotes' roster. Armstrong acquired 12 draft picks in the offseason, traded defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Vancouver and goalie Darcy Keumper to Colorado, and acquired defensemen Shane Gostisbehere and Anton Stralman and former Blues goaltender Carter Hutton. Armstrong also hired Andre Tourigny to his first NHL head coaching job.
Arizona's offense is led by St. Louis native Clayton Keller, center Nick Schmaltz and Phil Kessel. Former Blue Dmitrij Jaskin, who spent the last two seasons with Moscow Dynamo in Russia, returned to the NHL this summer by signing a one-year contract with Arizona.
LAST SEASON The Blues went 3-4-1 against the Coyotes last season and were 2-2-0 at Gila River Arena.
