ST. LOUIS — Bowen Byram scored twice, and Mikko Rantanen scored his 200th career NHL goal to help the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 Saturday to remain in third place in the Central Division.
Valeri Nichuskin also scored, and Justus Annunen stopped 19 shots in his season debut to give Colorado its third win in its last four games.
Sammy Blais scored for St. Louis, and Jordan Binnington made 29 saves as the Blues snapped a three-game winning streak less than 24 hours after trading centers Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Byram recorded his first career multi-goal game when he one-timed a feed from Samuel Girard on a power play from Samuel Girard for his fifth goal of the season to give Colorado a 4-1 lead 9:40 into the third period.
Nichuskin scored his ninth goal of the season on a power play 2:56 into the third period to restore Colorado’s two-goal lead.
Blais scored his second goal of the season with 4:32 remaining in the second period to narrow St. Louis’ deficit to 2-1.
Byram scored his first goal on a pass from Rantanen 7:27 into the second period to expand Colorado’s lead to 2-0.
Rantanen scored his team-leading 35th goal of the season and 200th of his career with 3:23 remaining in the first period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Avalanche D Josh Manson was scratched with the team playing Sunday against Edmonton as the team’s medical staff looks to avoid having him play in back-to-back games coming off a lower-body injury. … Avalanche D Cale Makar returned to the lineup after missing four games with a concussion.
REVOLVING DOOR
Annunen became the 40th player to suit up for Colorado this season, breaking last season’s record of 39. Annunen was recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League with goaltender Pavel Francouz expected to miss about three weeks with a lower-body injury.
SPRINGFIELD SHUTTLE:
Prior to the game the Blues recalled forwards Nikita Alexandrov and Matthew Highmore from Springfield of the AHL to fill the roster spots of recently traded O’Reilly and Acciari. Both are expected to join the team Sunday in Ottawa.
UP NEXT:
Avalanche: Hosts Edmonton on Sunday.
Blues: Visit Ottawa on Sunday to open a two-game road trip
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