Drouin scores twice, Blackwood’s 19 saves and more: 3 reasons why Colorado Avalanche got a 5-0 shutout win over St. Louis Blues 

The Colorado Avalanche got a big 5-0 shutout win over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at Ball Arena. With the win, the Avalanche got back in the win column, keeping pace with the Dallas Stars who also won on Friday night.

Jonathan Drouin scored twice for the Avalanche with Martin Necas, Cake Makar (PPG) and Joel Kiviranta adding the other tallies for Colorado. Meanwhile, Joel Hofer stopped 31 shots for the Blues.

Here’s a closer look at three reasons why Colorado got a shutout win over St. Louis.

3 reasons why Colorado Avalanche won 5-0 over St. Louis Blues

#3. Avalanche rode a big first period

The Avalanche scored four times in the first period to take a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. Jonathan Drouin opened the scoring at the 4:57 mark with a tap-in at the side of the Blues goal.

Here’s a look at the goal:

Then, Martin Necas got on the board for the Avalanche, scoring a nifty goal on a feed from Devon Toews.

Here’s the goal:

The Avalanche would add two more in the period, essentially putting the game away in the first.

#2. Blackwood’s 19 saves

MacKenzie Blackwood wasn’t overly tested on Friday night, stopping 19 shots to earn the clean sheet. For Blackwood, Friday night’s outing marked his second shutout of the season, netting him his 17th win of the season to go with a 2.58 GAA and .915 SV%.

The shutout performance was a solid bounce-back game for Blackwood after giving up four goals in his last game against the New York Islanders. He also gave up four against the New York Rangers, while making 37 saves in that game.

Overall, Blackwood’s strong game on Friday night is an encouraging sign that the 28-year-old netminder is everything the Avalanche expect him to be.

#1. Drouin scored twice

Jonathan Drouin had a whale of a first period, scoring twice. After Drouin opened the scoring, he made the game 3-0 with a power play tally at the 14:43 mark of the first.

Here’s a look at the goal:

The solid puck movement allowed Drouin to pick up a loose puck at the side of the goal and bury the shot into the wide-open cage. The replay showed that the puck hit Alexey Toropchenko’s stick, and landed right on Drouin’s lap.

Drouin didn’t miss, allowing him to score. He finished the game with three points (2G, 1A), earning him the game’s first star.

The Colorado Avalanche will get Saturday night off before taking on the Philadelphia Flyers next at home on Sunday.