Takeaways From Avalanche Win Over Blues

A scare with Makar, but he seems OK

Justus Annunen seemed like a guy with a police escort all day. The Colorado Avalanche zealously guarded the cage manned by the Finnish youngster, and so it was an easy-as-you-please 4-1 victory for him and the Avs today in St. Louis.

Hey, that’s not a knock on Annunen, who stopped 19-of-20 shots for his second career NHL victory. A couple of those saves were tough ones. But, let’s face it: the Blues, who played like zombies most of the day in the wake of the team trading captain Ryan O’Reilly the night before, rarely pressured Annunen.

It looks like the big Finn is the Avs’ backup goalie for the next two to three weeks, at least, as Pavel Francouz remains out with approximate career injury No. 48 in his short career with the Avs.

The Avs didn’t play with a full deck today either. Josh Manson stayed back in Denver, as the Avs apparently don’t want him playing back-to-back games just yet. Manson is expected to play against Edmonton tomorrow, the team said.