DENVER — Jordan Binnington stood on his head and the Blues were aggressive early, but it wasn't enough to beat Colorado in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday night. The Avalanche won 4-1.
Binnington was sensational in net for the Blues in the loss, stopping 46 of 49 shots and nearly singlehandedly keeping the team in the game. Binnington's 46 saves were his most ever in a playoff game.
Colorado struck first with a goal from Cale Makar with about five minutes remaining in the first period.
The Blues responded in the second with Jordan Kyrou collecting his first career postseason goal off a nice pass from Ivan Barbashev.
Colorado went back on top in the third thanks to a goal from star forward Nathan MacKinnon 30 seconds into the period, and then added on with one from captain Gabriel Landeskog to go up 3-1.
MacKinnon added an empty-net goal to make the final 4-1.
The Blues will look to even the series on Wednesday in Denver. The puck drops in Game 2 at 9:30 central time on Bally Sports Midwest.
St. Louis is playing without forward and regular season scoring leader David Perron, as he was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list ahead of the first round match up.