THE SCORING:
1st Period:
No goals.
2nd Period:
2:38 - COL 1, STL 0 - Off a faceoff win, Valeri Nichushkin grabbed the puck and curled into the slot and wired his shot past Jordan Binnington. Nathan MacKinnon collected the assist.
4:49 - COL 2, STL 0 - J.T. Compher drove to the net and Binnington made the initial stop, but Erik Johnson buried the rebound to double Colorado's lead. Alex Newhook also picked up an assist.
8:02 - COL 3, STL 0 -Josh Manson sniped a long-range shot over Binnington's glove to extend Colorado's lead 3-0. Alex Newhook and Samuel Girard registered the assists.
13:01 - COL 3, STL 1, PPG - From the doorstep, Brandon Saad knocked in a feed from Jordan Kyrou to trim St. Louis' deficit was down 3-1. Ryan O'Reilly also notched an assist.
3rd Period:
0:09 - COL 4, STL 1 -From behind the goal line, ValeriNichushkingrabbed a puck off the end boards and sent it back to the net front where Artturi Lehkonen tapped the puck to extend Colorado's lead 4-1.
15:45 - COL 4, STL 2 - A Jordan Kyrou one-timer from the faceoff circle redirected off Ryan O'Reilly and past Kuemper to trim the Blues' deficit down 4-2.
16:49 - COL 4, STL 3 - With Binnington pulled in exchange for the extra skater, Ryan O'Reilly buried a slick drop pass from Pavel Buchnevich behind the net to make it a one-goal game late in the third period. Jordan Kyrou also tallied an assist.
19:13 - COL 5, STL 3, ENG - Nazem Kadri scored on the open net to deliver the 5-3 win for the Avalanche. J.T. Compher recorded the assist.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Avalanche were 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The Blues were 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
GOALTENDING BATTLE:
Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves on 31 shots for the Avalanche.
Jordan Binnington made 29 saves on 33 shots for the Blues.
NOTEBOOK:
Kuemper made his 56th start of the season and improved his record to 36-11-3... Valeri Nichushkin scored his 25th goal of the season… Johnson tallied his eighth goal of the season… Manson recorded his sixth goal of the season… Lehkonen scored his 18th goal of the season… Kadri's empty-net goal marked his 27th goal of the season... Mikko Rantanen missed his fourth-straight game due to a non-COVID related illness… Devon Toews drew back in the lineup after missing four-consecutive games due to injury…
NEXT GAME:
The Avalanche play the final home game of the regular season on Thursday night as they host the Nashville Predators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MT.
