Avs Game Grades: Singin’ the Blues

The Avs may be the favorites to win the Stanley Cup…but nobody said it’d be easy. This was a rough start. Colorado drops its season opener against the St. Louis Blues, 4-1.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C-

I didn’t really mind the fourth line tonight. Really my only qualm against Bellemare personally was that he lost the puck on an easy 2-on-1 with Tyson Jost in the first period, which was very likely headed for twine. He won 70% of his face-offs, too, so there’s that.

Andre Burakovsky – B

I really liked Burakovsky’s game. He mentioned it during training camp that he felt more confident heading into this year that coach Jared Bednar would trust him to play on the Avs top line alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. You could see that tonight. I thought he was the most confident player on the ice tonight — unafraid to make the risky passes or try to skate through two or three defenders.