Postgame Wrap-Up: Avs Had Chances in OT

ST. LOUIS--The Colorado Avalanche got one point in the standings against a division rival, but it could have easily been two.
Colorado had chances to grab the extra one on the road Friday night against the St. Louis Blues, but it couldn't capitalize on a couple opportunities in overtime. Instead, the Blues scored on their chance to defeat the Avs 4-3 in extra time at Enterprise Center.
"We have our best players on the ice, a 4-on-3 power play, and we give up a breakaway. It should be us putting a dagger through them there and get two points. It has to be," said head coach Jared Bednar. "We have to be better than that."

The Avalanche had two quality opportunities to pick up the victory in the 3-on-3 OT period. The first came when Blues defenseman Colton Parayko lost his stick during the play, giving the Avs more room to pass and shoot in the offensive zone. The second was the result of the first situation, as Vladimir Tarasenko picked up Parayko's stick and was then sent to the penalty box for using illegal equipment.
Thirty-four seconds later, St. Louis took advantage of a Colorado turnover as Ryan O'Reilly scored on a short-handed breakaway.
"We're trying to get pucks to the net and create chances," said Matt Nieto. "They got a block and a bounce for a breakaway. It's unfortunate, but that's hockey. It happens sometimes."
The Avalanche finished 1-for-6 on the power play, but the club did get a key man-advantage goal in the third period to force overtime. J.T. Compher scored on a rebound from a Nathan MacKinnon shot to knot the contest at 3-3 with 6:50 left in regulation.
"I liked the way we fought back," Bednar said. "The power play gets us a big goal after looking pretty rusty. They did not look good for most of the game. Compher comes up with a big goal on a shot from the point, and he jumps in the right area to get a rebound."
St. Louis had three power plays in the game, but Colorado successfully killed each chance.
"It's a good point. You're trailing. I didn't think we were great," said Bednar. "I didn't think our execution was great, but we worked and did some good things as well."
MIKKO AT 13: Mikko Rantanen extended his career-long point streak to 13 games with an assist on J.T. Compher's tying goal in the third period. He is tied with the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin for the longest active streak in the NHL
Rantanen is the 14th different player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history to have a point streak of at least 13 contests. He is just the second Avs player to accomplish the feat in the last 10 years, joining linemate Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon had 13-game streaks from Jan. 25 to March 6, 2014 (five goals, 13 assists) and Feb. 24 to March 22, 2018 (13 goals, 14 assists).
Rantanen's assist was his 40th of the campaign and marked his league-leading 53rd point (13 goals, 40 assists).
MacKinnon also had a helper on Compher's tally to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists).
GRUBI ALSO EXTENDS STREAK:Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is now 8-0-2 over his last 10 starts. It is the longest streak of his career without a regulation loss.
His previous best stretch was 7-0-2, which occurred with the Washington Capitals during the 2016-17 season.
Semyon Varlamov was the last Avalanche goalie to go at least 10 contests without a regulation loss. He had a 16-game run (11-0-5) in 2013-14.
Grubauer was playing in his fourth straight outing, but he was making his first start since Dec. 6 at the Florida Panthers when he made 33 saves in a 5-2 victory. The previous two contests that he played in were relief appearances.
BACK TO DENVER: Colorado was playing the first half of a back-to-back set that concludes on Saturday at home against the Dallas Stars.
The Avs are now 3-1-1 in the opening game. The club holds a 2-1-1 mark in the back half of consecutive-night outings.
It is the fifth of 11 back-to-backs the Avs will play this season.
DALLAS WAITING: While the Avs were in St. Louis, their Saturday night opponent was waiting for them.
The Stars last played on Thursday at the San Jose Sharks and traveled to Denver on Friday. Dallas will be wrapping up a four-game road trip in Colorado and will be looking for its first win of the western trek that also had stops in Vegas and Anaheim. The Stars are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Sharks.
This is the second meeting of the year between the Avalanche and Stars, with Colorado winning 3-2 in the first matchup on Nov. 24 in Denver.
Semyon Varlamov will get the start in net for the Avs.
MORE NOTES:J.T. Compher had a goal and an assist for his second multi-point game of the season. It was the fifth of his career.
Carl Soderberg recorded a season-high 12 faceoff wins. He finished with an 80-percent (12-for-15) success rate at the faceoff circle, the highest win percentage of the year for any Avalanche player (minimum of 15 draws taken).
Colorado is now 11-6-3 (25 points) on the road this season. The club's 25 away points are the most among any team in the league.