Blues Offense Too Much as Avs Fall 7-3

[Photo Courtesy of AP Photo/Jeff Roberson]

The Colorado Avalanche couldn’t keep up with the St. Louis Blues Thursday night as they fell to (14-4-0) on the season, losing 7-3. Alexander Steen scored two goals, number 15 and 16 of the season, and T.J. Oshie collected four assists.

The Colorado Avalanche would have their hands full as they took on one of the best in the Western Conference in the St. Louis Blues. Max Talbot would be called for a two-minute minor for hooking, not even two minutes into the game. St. Louis would make the most of that penalty as they scored on the power-play five seconds into the penalty. Alexander Steen originally was credited with the goal, but was switched later to Derek Roy; who recorded his fifth goal of the season, assisted by T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo.

Moments after the goal, St. Louis Blues forward Brendan Morrow was whistled for a two-minute minor for roughing. Colorado didn’t waste any time; a beautiful pass from Paul Stastny; rookie Nathan Mackinnon buried the puck for his 3rd goal of the season. He was assisted by Paul Stastny and Andre Benoit, tying the game up at 1-to-1.

Jean Sabastien-Giguere made a phenomenal save on Blues forward Brendan Morrow as he wrapped around the net and was wide open but Jiggy fell on the puck. Avs had a 3-on-2 opportunity as Nathan Mackinnon’s shot was wide of the net. Duchene also found O’Reilly in front of the net with a wrap-around, but O’Reilly was stuffed by Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

John Mitchell was called for a two-minute minor for cross-checking with 2:02 remaining in the 1st, putting the Blues on the power-play. But St. Louis couldn’t manage to get any opportunities as Colorado’s penalty-kill unit was hounding the puck. Avs and Blues finished the 1st period tied at one apiece.

Erik Johnson committed a two-minute minor for holding on T.J. Oshie and St. Louis was going on another power-play. Once again, they didn’t waste any time. Seven seconds into the power-play, David Backes scored to pull the Blues ahead 2-to-1, assisted by T.J. Oshie and Derek Roy.

Alexander Steen has been a scoring machine, as he scored his 15th goal of the season, assisted by T.J. Oshie and David Backes. St. Louis took a 3-1 lead as Patrick Roy called a timeout immediately replacing JS Giguere with Semyon Varlamov after allowing three goals.

St. Louis continued to dominate the Avs as Vladimir Tarasenko put in his sixth goal of the year, assisted by Patrick Berglund, putting the Blues ahead 4-1. Matt Duchene was called for a two-minute minor for hooking, as it resulted in a 4-on-3 for the Blues. St. Louis would score again as Chris Stewart put in the puck, notching his third goal of the season. Assisted by Kevin Shattenkirk and Derek Roy.

Tempers flares late in the 2nd period as Stewart and Sarich got into a fight; Stewart got the most of Sarich and gestured to the crowd. Colorado couldn’t have liked that as Duchene and McLeod would end of getting into fights of their own. St. Louis led 5-to-1 after two periods, completely dominating Colorado.

JS Giguere would re-enter. St. Louis would continue to put on the beating, as Alexander Steen scored his second goal of the game. Which was assisted by Oshie once again, and David Backes. Duchene would answer with a goal of his own, collecting his 12th of the year. Ryan O’Reilly would also score later in the 3rd, his 7th of the season as the Avs fell to the Blues 7-3.

3 Stars