Blues handle Avalanche again
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs St. Louis Blues.The St. Louis Blues continued their mastery of the Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win Saturday at Pepsi Center, their third victory in as many games this season.
St. Louis (43-14-6) stretched its lead to five points on third-place Colorado (41-18-5) in the Central Division (92-87).
The Avalanche pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov with 2:33 to play but couldn't get the tying goal.
Patrik Berglund gave the Blues a 2-0 lead at 3:53 of the third period with an uncanny shot from the right circle. Berglund spun around and shot the puck between Avalanche defenseman Nate Guenin's legs and by Varlamov's glove for his fourth goal in the past four games.
The Avalanche, who haven't been shut out this season, made it 2-1 with 11:03 to go on a goal by PA Parenteau. Matt Duchene moved from the side of the net and cut inside Blues forward Steve Ott for a shot. Goalie Ryan Miller made the save, but Parenteau banged in the rebound.
Miller made a save against Gabriel Landeskog with 6 minutes to play after a Blues turnover in their end. Landeskog was on his knees when he shot the puck off Miller's chest.
Miller is 4-0-0 since arriveing in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres a week ago Friday. He has allowed one goal in each of the past two games.
The Blues took a 1-0 lead at 7:03 of the second period on a goal by David Backes, who has six goals and five assists in his past nine games against the Avalanche.
The goal came 17 seconds after the Blues held the Avalanche to one shot on goal during a power play with Barret Jackman in the penalty box for interfering with John Mitchell.
T.J. Oshie sidestepped two Avalanche defenders as he skated down left wing and passed to Backes driving to the net for a shot Varlamov had little chance to stop.
The Blues are 35-1-4 when they score first.
The Avalanche went on their third power play 20 seconds after Backes' goal when Berglund was assessed a delay of game for clearing the puck over the glass, but St. Louis' Alexander Steen had the only shot, one from the high slot that Varlamov stopped.
The Blues outshot the Avalanche 2-1 while killing off three Colorado power plays through the first two periods.
Avalanche rookie forward Nathan MacKinnon had his scoring streak stopped at 13 games.
Avalanche center Paul Stastny sustained a back injury on his first shift in the opening minute of the game and didn't return. He missed two games earlier this season because of back spasms.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
09/03/2014 - 00:30
