COLORADO AVALANCHE: MacKinnon, Landeskog notch 3 points each in Game 1 win

St. Louis Blues center Ivan Barbashev, front, moves the puck to the net as Colorado Avalanche center Tyson Jost defends in the first period of Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, May 17, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

by: Colleen Flynn

Posted: May 17, 2021 / 11:16 PM MDT

Updated: May 17, 2021 / 11:28 PM MDT

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DENVER (KDVR) — Gabriel Landeskog earned a Gordie Howe hat trick with a fight, an assist and a goal in the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday.

Cale Makar opened up scoring with a power-play goal at under five minutes left in the first period.

Jordan Kyrou scored the only goal for the Blues in the second period while the Avalanche outshot their opponent the entire game.

Thirty seconds into the third period, Nathan MacKinnon put the puck past Jordan Binnington on a behind-the-net pass from Mikko Rantanen. Landeskog deflected MacKinnon’s shot to score the Avs third goal at 8:30. MacKinnon scored an empty-netter to end the game on a pass from Landeskog.

Binnington made 46 saves for the Blues. Philipp Grubauer stopped only 22 shots in the victory.

St. Louis was missing top scorer, David Perron, who is on the COVID-19 protocol list. It is unclear if he will return to the ice for the next matchup.

Game 2 is at 8 p.m. MDT at Ball Arena on Wednesday.