O'Reilly scores hat trick, Blues end Avalanche five-game winning streak

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan O'Reilly scored a hat trick and had an assist to help the St. Louis Blues end a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Brayden Schenn and Torey Krug each had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 27 saves for the Blues (20-19-6).
St. Louis trails the Arizona Coyotes by one point for fourth place in the eight-team Honda West Division. The Coyotes defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 later Saturday. The top four teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We know that it's got to be on the guys, it's got to be on [our] core," O'Reilly said. "We absolutely know if we want to make the playoffs, it's got to be on us, and then everyone else follows. So it's good we stepped up, found a way. A lot of work left, a lot of things to clean up."
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists to extend the NHL's longest current point streak to 13 games, Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for the Avalanche (31-10-4), who had won five in a row.

The Avalanche, who have clinched a playoff berth, trail the Vegas Golden Knights by four points for first place in the West. Vegas defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 on Saturday.
It was the second of a three-game series. Colorado won 4-2 on Thursday in its first game back from a COVID-19 pause, and the series concludes Monday.
"It was a hard-fought hockey game," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We took two or three dumb penalties tonight and they end up costing us. They scored the game-winning goal on the 5-on-3. We're in a tie game in the third period on the road. It's a good spot to be. We felt good about being there the way the second period went, and then the penalties killed us."
The Avalanche scored two goals in the opening 3:01 to take a 2-0 lead. Makar's power-play goal with a two-man advantage at 1:37 of the first period made it 1-0, and Gabriel Landeskog's goal at 3:01 made it 2-0.
"Obviously we jumped off to an early lead and I thought everybody was still rolling," Makar said.
The Blues then scored three straight goals. O'Reilly's first at 9:49 made it 2-1; it was his 600th NHL point. He tied it 2-2 at 12:40, and Ivan Barbashev gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 17:48.
"Our guys did a great job," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "Get down quickly 2-0, but I thought that 'Binner' made a huge save at, I don't remember the exact time, and then we just responded. O'Reilly gets a goal and we're right back in it. Guys, they stayed positive on the bench. That's the key. I thought our team really inspired each other tonight to go get a win."

MacKinnon's power-play goal at 8:10 of the second period tied it 3-3, giving him 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) during his point streak.
Mike Hoffman's one-timer from the right circle came with a two-man advantage at 11:19 to give the Blues a 4-3 lead.
St. Louis called its timeout to set a play when they got the 5-on-3. O'Reilly won the face-off in the left circle to Krug, who passed back to O'Reilly, who made a cross-ice pass to Hoffman for the go-ahead goal.
"I know it's one of my advantages, and just happy enough that we're able to execute on the power play, and that was a big goal for our team and to put us up by one in this very important game," Hoffman said.
O'Reilly completed his second hat trick of the season and third in the NHL at 18:25 of the third period with an empty-net goal to make it 5-3.
NOTES:Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer was removed from COVID-19 protocol Friday but was scratched. ... Makar extended his point streak to five games (one goal, seven assists). ... Berube earned his 100th regular-season win with the Blues (100-57-22). ... Blues defenseman Colton Parayko left after the first period with an upper-body injury. He played 5:32, had one assist and was plus-2. Berube said it's not related to the upper-body injury that caused Parayko to miss 21 games earlier this season, and they will know more Sunday. ... Blues defenseman Vince Dunn (undisclosed) left the game in the third period.