Mistakes and turnovers put Colorado in a 4-0 hole, but despite a valiant effort, it was too much in the end.
The mistakes were too much to overcome.
The Colorado Avalanche got into a deep hole early on and ultimately fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-4 Saturday evening at Enterprise Center despite putting up a valiant effort late in the game.
Ross Colton, Miles Wood, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sam Malinski scored for the Avalanche (47-27-4), who suffered a defeat for just the third time in their last nine games (6-2-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves in a challenging outing.
On the other end of the ice, Robert Thomas had a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to eight games (four goals, 15 assists), and Zack Bolduc tattooed Colorado with two power play goals for the Blues (43-28-7) who improved their wild card advantage over the Minnesota Wild to four points. Jordan Binnington struggled late, but was outstanding for most of the game with a 35-save performance. The Blues also set a franchise record with their 12th consecutive win.
First Period
Joel Kiviranta put the Avalanche down a man just 31 seconds into the game when he cross-checked Jordan Kyrou. It took just 16 seconds for the Blues to capitalize on the power play, which also happened to be the first shot of the game, when Bolduc blasted a one-timer from the slot off a centering pass from Thomas.
Jake Neighbors doubled the lead at 7:41 of the period when Thomas, again, found his man in the slot for a sweet backhand that snuck over an outstretched Blackwood. The sequence unfolded following a defensive turnover from Makar that ended up with the Blues adding to their lead and a 2-0 advantage after the first period.
Second Period
The backhand continued to be Blackwood’s Achilles’ heal when Pavel Buchnevich added to the hemorrhage when he took Jimmy Snuggerud’s saucer at the top of the crease.
After Artturi Lehkonen was sent to the box for hooking Philip Broberg, Bolduc scored his second power play goal of the game at 8:53 with a snap shot from the high slot, once again off a pass from Thomas. The rout was on with a Blues 4-0 lead at that point.
However, the Avalanche finally began to claw their way back. Colton made it a 4-1 game at 15:32 when he tapped in a pass from Logan O’Connor. Two minutes and 13 seconds later, Wood scored for the second time in as many games following a turnover in the Blues zone that found him in perfect position from the slot. And he followed through on the opportunity, beating Binnington with a quick wrister. Still down 4-2 were the Avalanche after 40 minutes of play.
Third Period
The final frame remained scoreless until MacKinnon scored with 2:18 left in the game with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle with Blackwood pulled for the extra attacker to get the Avalanche within one.
However, the rally took a huge hit when Thomas scored on the empty net to make it 5-3 with 31 seconds left in the game. Colorado refused to give up, though. Malinski scored with nine seconds left in the matchup, but that’s all she wrote. The Blues held on for the 5-4 win.
Takeaways
This was a tough pill to swallow. It’s always hard when you lose to one of your biggest rivals, but it was in the way it was lost. The Avalanche outshot the Blues 39-22, but put themselves in a huge hole to start the game. Perhaps a goal or two could have been saved, but the turnovers also put Blackwood in a plethora of peculiar positions, and allowed the Blues to consistently screen in front of the net. This should be a lesson leading up to the playoffs. Despite how electric the offense has been, they can’t be making these mistakes, especially if the Avalanche want to beat teams like Winnipeg and Dallas. Sure, they are now missing some key players in Marty Nečas, Josh Manson, Sam Girard, and Jonathan Drouin, but the miscues are ultimately what cost Colorado the game.
Next Game
The Avalanche are done with their three-game road trip and return to Ball Arena to take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, April 8th. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. local time.