Recap: Avs sluggish in loss to St. Louis

Not much to write home about when it comes to that performance.

It was another disappointing night for the Colorado Avalanche out of the gate.

After scoring the opening goal, Colorado gave up three unanswered goals in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. They end this quick two-game road trip with back-to-back games with losses.

The Avalanche still sit in the first wild card spot, but are losing ground on those ahead of them in the Central Division. Games like Sunday Night won’t help their cause. Here’s how it all went down.

First Period

The game started with a bang, thanks to an early bout between Parker Kelly and Nathan Walker. Both would sit for five minutes, and it wouldn’t be the last bit of action for the latter of the two.

After making history by winning the Four Nations Face-Off, Cale Makar made some more. He recorded his 400th career point on a point shot which was deflected by fellow Canadian teammate Devon Toews to get the lead.

Walker was involved in another scrum after a whistle with Logan O’Connor and Joel Kiviranta, earning matching penalties with LOC. Plus, Jack Drury would be on the receiving end of a big hit by Ryan Suter which drew a crowd, primarily with some pushes and shoves from Miles Wood.

But Colorado would find themselves on the back foot for a good bit of the period. The Blues just looked to be a half-step ahead and were pushing for the equalizer before going into the room. But Mackenzie Blackwood made some big saves in the closing minutes to hold the advantage heading into the break.

Second Period

Blackwood continued to make brilliant saves, with his best being on a point-blank chance right in front which he forced onto the post. Calvin de Haan hit the post himself on a long-range shot at the other end moments later.

After killing off a Pavel Buchnevich tripping penalty, the Blues would eventually strike. Brayden Schenn would find the puck shot off of Sam Girard on his stick, and he put it into a gaping net to tie it up.

This would not be the last time St. Louis would find the twine either. Just five minutes apart, they would get bouncy rebounds right in front from Colton Parayko and Dylan Holloway. The Holloway goal came with only 10 ticks left on the clock, giving them a two-goal advantage with 20 minutes to go.

Third Period

For the first 15 minutes of the period, St. Louis played excellent shutdown hockey, giving nothing to the Avalanche. The best chance came from Ross Colton on a wraparound, but it didn’t go.

Finally, Colorado showed some life in the final five minutes with chances from Colton again, and Nathan MacKinnon being denied on great saves by Jordan Binnington – similar to saves he made in the Four Nations Face-Off Championship Game. Down two with the goalie pulled, it was a monumental task which proved too much for the visitors.

Takeaways

There’s not much to say about this one. For the second straight game, Colorado didn’t do what it needed to do. Last night, they had the energy and prowess to get chances on net. But they didn’t finish them. At the other end of the spectrum tonight, they were outshot and the Blues shut them down. Not really one player stood up and took this game by the reigns to lead the Avalanche forward. While this was the second leg of a back-to-back, the Avs have historically been better on the second legs. But it wasn’t the case this evening.

Perhaps more concerningly, the slow starts after a long break are glaring now. Last season, right out of the NHL All-Star Break, Colorado went on a four-game losing streak on an East Coast road trip, losing seven of 10. The trend of losing consecutive games out of the break continues this season with these two straight losses. With the next six games at Ball Arena, now is the perfect time to right the ship and get it going back in the right direction.

Upcoming

For the first time in three weeks, the Avalanche return home to face the New Jersey Devils for the first of a six-game homestand. Puck drop on Wednesday night is at 7:30 p.m. MT.