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The Avalanche see their home win streak snapped at 11 games.
The
Colorado Avalanche were defeated by the St. Louis Blues Saturday afternoon by a final score of 2-1. While the atmosphere on the ice was somewhat reminiscent of a playoff atmosphere, the Avs were unable to take control of the game at any point in time. The Blues had a clear mission to suppress the Avs speed all contest, and a third period parade to the penalty box, combined with numerous scoring opportunities sent wide posed too much for the Avs to overcome tonight.
The Blues showcased how and why they’ve re-emerged in the playoff race, and despite the frustrations with third period officiating from the Avs, the Blues made it very difficult for the Avs to establish their game.
First Period:
Things almost got started right away offensively for the Avs. Just over a minute into action, Nathan MacKinnon was sprung for a mini breakaway at the Blues blueline, but he rang the post with his shot after beating Jordan Binnington to his low glove.
This didn’t result in a relentless attack from the Avs however, as the Blues were able to hold strong, and ultimately control the contest early in the opening period. The Blues hadn’t done anything very dangerous with the puck, but against the Avs, possession matters. The less the Avs have the puck, the more the Blues could dictate the pace of play, as they aren’t looking to skate with the Avs at top speed.
Just under midway through the frame, Jack Drury had the puck roll on him during a clearing attempt, and he sent it right over the glass for a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, some efficient puck movement from the Blues top powerplay set up emerging rookie Zack Bolduc for a one-time blast, that Mackenzie Blackwood had no chance to catch up to. The Blues broke the ice on the scoresheet, and the Avs had some work to do.
Just over a minute later, the Avs top line was able to establish a breakout with a successful entry into the Blues zone. Once there, the Avs passing was not crisp, but the puck found a way to bounce right to the stick of MacKinnon, who rifled a wrister into an open net. Just 72 seconds after the Blues goal, the Avs were back to a 1-1 tie.
In the dying seconds of the period, the Avs were able to establish another top line shift in the Blues zone, with Cale Makar showing off the legs he brought into this afternoon’s contest. With about four seconds to go at the top of the zone, Samuel Girard failed to control a Makar pass, and the Blues were able to clear the puck to end the period.
While not the most thrilling action for the fans in the building, the feeling on the ice emulated that of a playoff game. The first period didn’t lack the chippy nature these two teams typically approach each other with. The Blues did a good job of limiting the speed the Avs want to play with and the Avs needed to find another step coming out for the second period.
Second Period:
Much like the first frame, the Blues seemingly had more legs coming out of the locker room. They still weren’t posing much fear with what they were doing to the puck, but at this point the gameplan was clear; slow the game down.
Following a couple shots a piece early in the middle frame, there would be an 11-plus minute stretch of action in this period where neither team were able to produce a shot on goal. While it was not for a lack of trying from either side, there was little space on the ice for either team to make a play.
The Avs slowly began to heat up as the clock rolled along, and with just over six minutes to go, Logan O’Connor struck iron for the Avs for the second time in the contest. This continued the stretch of no shots on goal for either side, until about two minutes later, when Sam Malinski was tripped up by a Blues defender in the corner. The Avs had an opportunity to break the tie late in the second on the man advantage, against a Blues squad who currently rank in the bottom five of the NHL in penalty kill percentage.
The top unit was not able to do much with the zone time they had on the powerplay. One quality shot, that Binnington surprisingly threw back into play with his glove, resulting in a sneaky clear for the Blues penalty kill. The second powerplay unit hopped over the boards, and Ross Colton nearly had the tiebreaker on his stick. He stepped into a slapshot, and was robbed by Binnington.
Besides this chance, there was not much to speak about in the middle period. The two rivals skated into the dressing room knotted up at one goal a piece, and there was no telling which side was going to come out on top.
Third Period:
Early into the period, Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist laid a big hit on Colton behind the Blues net, and Colton responded with a blindside shoulder in the neutral zone, which sent the Ave to the first of three kills in the opening half of the third period. While perhaps a soft call given the temperature of the game, Colton needed to keep his cool and avoid blindside retaliation.
The Avs killed the penalty, but moments after were sent right back to the kill, this time controversially. While speeding in from behind to break up a scoring chance for Radek Faksa, MacKinnon tied up the stick of Faksa inwards towards the two. Faksa seemingly tripped over himself, and MacKinnon was penalized for tripping.
The Avs killed this one off as well, but shortly after Martin Necas turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and the Blues capitalized moments later. A point shot found its way through to Blackwood, who was unable to clean up the rebound. Pavel Buchnevich, who was all over Blackwood in front of the crease shoveled home the second opportunity and broke the tie for the Blues.
While a majority of the building felt a make-up call should be coming Colorado’s way, Sam Malinski was instead penalized for high sticking, which sent the Avs to the penalty kill for a third time in the opening half of the period.
On this kill, Blackwood made a huge glove save on Bolduc to keep the Avs in reach of the tie. The Avs killed this one, but were left with just under eight minutes to even the score and all momentum sapped.
Frustrations only continued for the Avs with officiating when Bolduc got away with an elbow to the head of Ryan Lindgren on a follow-through after a hit. The hit, which occurred right in front of the Avs bench, sent the group into a frenzy, but this time the officials kept their arms down. There would not be another penalty called in the contest.
With under five minutes to go, the Avs made their final big push. The top six forward lines were able to maintain possession in the Blues zone for a majority of the final minutes. They just weren’t able to hit the net with the majority of their chances in this push, missing the cage from quality scoring opportunities on at least four occasions. The clock ticked down to a 2-1 final score, the Blues extended their winning streak to nine games, and the Avs saw their home win streak snapped at 11 games.
Key Takeaways:
- While the Avalanche didn’t necessarily play horrible, the top players really laid an egg tonight for the most part. Despite the goal I thought Nathan MacKinnon lacked that extra level in his game, which has been a theme of the last couple weeks. He hasn’t been taking over games with his abilities lately, and with Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov erupting for 12 points in three games this week, MacKinnon went from competing with Leon Draisaitl for the Art Ross two weeks ago, to being in a dogfight (once again) with Kucherov.
- Conversely, I thought Cale Makar had a good game. His legs looked alive all night, and overall he seemed to be on top of things in all zones. If only he could’ve hit the net on any of his late-game opportunities tonight.
- The St. Louis Blues are back. When I last wrote about this team in a recap in late February, they were dead in the water. Stuck around a .500 record, they were stuck in between the playoff contenders and the bottom of the league, and approached the March 7th trade deadline as a team with pieces available, but ultimately stood pat on making moves to their NHL roster. With this now nine-game win streak, they find themselves firmly in the West’s final wild card spot, with potential to still catch the Minnesota Wild, and even Colorado if the Avs aren’t careful. These two teams meet for the final time this regular season next week in St. Louis, for what’s sure to be another intense game with playoff implications.
Next Matchup:
The Avalanche (45-26-3) will be back in action on Monday evening, as they wrap up the homestand by welcoming in old friend Nazem Kadri and the Calgary Flames (34-26-11). Like the Blues, the Flames are a desperate hockey club who need every point on the table, as they sit just on the outside of the western conference playoff picture.
Puck drop is slated for 6:30 p.m. MT.
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