St. Louis allowed four goals in the first period, including two on Colorado power plays, digging themselves a massive hole as they tried to avoid their fourth straight loss.

Jared Bednar wanted the Avalanche to treat the last five games before the 4 Nations Faceoff like it’s the playoffs. The team got the memo. Colorado stormed out of the gate with four first-period goals on Friday on its way to a 5-0 drubbing of its divisional rival St.

Ever since the blockbuster trade that saw Mikko Rantanen shipped out of town, things just haven’t felt quite right for the Colorado Avalanche. They’ve stumbled out of the gates since the trade, recently dropping a tough 5-2 decision to the New York Islanders.