Avalanche Defeats Blues on NHL 20 Pride Night

The Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 on virtual Pride Night on Wednesday in a game simulation of EA Sports' NHL 20.
Knotted at 4-4 in the final minute of play, Joonas Donskoi gave the Avs the late lead after intercepting the puck at center ice and then scoring on a breakaway, beating St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington with a shot that went far-side with 48 seconds remaining. Cale Makar tallied into an empty net with 16 ticks left to seal the Colorado win at virtual Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche led 4-2 in the third period, but the Blues rallied with markers from Zach Sanford at 14:06 and Oskar Sundqvist at 18:06 to make it a for tight finish. St. Louis wrapped up the contest with a 35-27 shot advantage.
Matt Calvert, Andre Burakovsky, Erik Johnson and Tyson Jost also scored for Colorado in the Division Rivalry showdown, while Nazem Kadri and Vladislav Namestnikov contributed two assists apiece. Burakovsky also added a helper for a multi-point night, and goaltender Philipp Grubauer finished with 31 saves in the victory.
The simulation had a Pride theme to it and featured several elements that showed Colorado's support of the Hockey Is For Everyone initiative and the You Can Play program. The organization supports any player, coach or fan that brings heart, energy and passion to the rink.
The Avalanche won both games against the Blues during its simulated game series this summer, as the team also picked up a 3-0 victory against its division rival on April 29.
Colorado takes on the Vegas Golden Knights in next week's NHL 20 simulation. Vegas finished the regular season as the best team in the Pacific Division and will join the Avs, Blues and Dallas Stars in a round-robin series to determine the top four Western Conference seeds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when real-life games return.

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