Nichushkin Scores Twice as Avalanche Defeats Blues 3-1 To Clinch Central Division Title and Western Conference's Top Seed

Central Division Champs

Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of goals to help the Avalanche clinch the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference with a 3-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday. Martin Necas added a tally for Colorado while Scott Wedgewood stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced. 

"Goals for us started with winning the division, the conference, still need another win to get first overall [in the NHL], and we'd be crazy not to chase that at this point," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "It's important. If you get to where you want to go you, might as well try and get your home ice, especially after a season like this. So, it feels great. We're not throwing parades or that kind of stuff yet, but we're happy with where we're at. We should celebrate it a little bit, because it's a big goal of ours to start the year. And now we've accomplished part of it and we'll stay focused here. We have five games to go, and [we'll] keep working on our and dialing in some things so we feel really good about our game going into the playoffs."

With the win, the Avalanche improved to 51-16-10 and won its 13th division title since moving to Denver.

How It Happened

Nichushkin opened the scoring at 16:11 of the first period with his 16th goal of the season via a net-front deflection on Devon Toews' shot from the point.

At 19:32 of the first period, Colorado doubled its lead when Necas scored his 37th goal of the season via a shot from the right doorstep set up by MacKinnon's feed.

Nichushkin gave the Avs a 3-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at 1:40 of the middle frame with his second tally of the game and 17th of the season via a between-the-legs shot from the right doorstep on a partial breakaway set up by Brock Nelson's feed.

Robert Thomas put the Blues on the board at 15:38 of the second period with a shot from the right doorstep off the rush.

Next Up

The Avalanche begins a two-game homestand on Thursday against the Calgary Flames at 7 p.m. MT on KUSA-9, KTVD-20, Altitude, Altitude+ and Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.