Avalanche Drop 3-2 Loss to Blues

The Colorado Avalanche suffered a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday night at Ball Arena. Colorado's previous four-game point streak came to an end. The Avalanche are now 8-5-1 on the season.

For the Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen (1G, 1A) scored to extend his goal streak to three games (4G, 4A) and Artturi Lehkonen added a power-play goal. Cale Makar produced two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves on 29 shots in the loss.
For the Blues, Robert Thomas (1G, 1A) and former Avalanche winger Brandon Saad scored at even strength, while Jordan Kyrou added a power-play strike. Pavel Buchnevich handed out two assists. Jordan Binnington made 45 saves on 47 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Monday's contest between the Central Division foes marked the first meeting between the Avalanche and Blues since the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where Colorado advanced past St. Louis in six games.
The Avalanche and Blues skated out to a scoreless first period where Colorado held a 16-12 shot advantage, but was 0-for-2 on the power play.
Following the quiet first period, the second period unfolded with more action as both teams found the back of the net, but St. Louis scored back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission and a 15-12 shot advantage in the frame.

Colorado secured the game's icebreaker at 11:29 on a quick transition play. Cale Makar carried the puck up ice and dished it off to Nathan MacKinnon in the neutral zone. MacKinnon skated towards the net and sent a drop pass to Rantanen in the slot, where the Finnish winger wired in his team-leading 11th goal of the season and marked his third-straight game (4G) lighting the lamp. All three skaters extended their respective point streaks to six games.
All but just under three minutes later, the Blues tied the score up 1-1 on a breakaway. Pavel Buchnevich sprung Thomas on a breakaway where the centerman fired a shot off the crossbar and past Georgiev at 13:49.
The Blues then doubled their lead late in the middle frame on a strike from Saad, who played with the Avalanche during the 2020-21 season. Saad collected a pass from Ryan O'Reilly - who played with Colorado from 2009-15 - from below the goal line. The winger carried the puck to below the left faceoff circle, turned and threw a shot on net that squeezed past Georgiev to give St. Louis the 2-1 lead at 18:59.
Colorado concluded the period on the penalty kill as Rantanen was called for interference at 19:58.
Just 13 seconds into the third period and on St. Louis' power play, they executed a quick passing sequence across all three zones from Buchnevich to Thomas, who found Kyrou zipping down the flank. The winger drove to the net and tucked a shot in-tight past Georgiev to extend the Blues lead 3-1.

Colorado's league-leading power play converted to trim their deficit down 3-2 at 3:02 in the final period after St. Louis' Brayden Schenn was sent to the box for tripping at 2:03. On the Avalanche power play, Makar and Rantanen exchanged a pass before Rantanen threaded a no-look feed to his fellow Finn in Lehkonen at the left faceoff circle. Lehkonen took his time and then sniped his shot to the far side of Binnington.
The Avalanche received a 5-on-3 power play with 1:44 left in the game. They first went on the power play at 2:01 left to play as Justin Faulk was called for tripping Josh Manson. Then at 18:16, Buchnevich sent the puck into the stands and was sent to the box for delay of game. The Avalanche tried to tie the score up and even pulled Georgiev in exchange for the extra skater at - 6-on-3 - with 55 seconds left in the game, but they were stifled by the Blues' penalty kill and Binnington to confirm the 3-2 loss.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Rantanen, who earned the NHL's First Star of the Week Honors as announced on Monday morning, scored his 11th goal of the season and his sixth-straight multi point game. The Finnish winger now has a three-game goal streak (4G) and a six-game point streak with a whopping 15 points (8G, 7A) amassed during that stretch.
• Lehkonen tallied his fourth goal of the season and third on the power play. He also extended his point streak to four games with as many points (2G, 2A) during that span.
• MacKinnon's hot streak continued as the centerman extended his point streak to six games after dishing out an assist on Rantanen's goal. MacKinnon has totaled 14 points in the last six games and is tied for the Avalanche scoring lead with 24 points (4G, 20A).
• With an assist on Rantanen's goal and on Lehkonen's PPG, Makar extended his point streak to six games where he has totaled 11 points (3G, 8A) in that span.
• Georgiev made his 10th start of the season, while his record to fell to 7-2-1.
• Colorado finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
• Kurtis MacDermid suffered a lower-body injury against Carolina and is out for four-to-six weeks. In his place, Colorado recalled Andreas Englund from the Eagles.
• Englund made his debut for the Avalanche and logged 10:27 minutes, fired off one shot and threw three hits.
• Bowen Byram and Samuel Girard and MacDermid (all with lower-body injuries) were scratches for Colorado.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche head back on the road for a three-game stretch as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Thursday night. The puck drops between the Avs and Canes at 5:00 p.m. MT.