Colorado Can't Catch Up In St. Louis

ST. LOUIS--There is a saying that Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has used more than once this season, and it ended up being true on Thursday night versus the St. Louis Blues.
"Catch-up hockey is losing hockey," Bednar stated after his club's 3-1 loss. "I love the way we played for the better part of the game, but we got to find a way to do that for 60 minutes, especially in the second half of the year."

For the second straight game, the Avs fell behind on the scoreboard and had to battle their way back from a deficit. And for the second straight outing, Colorado fell just short as the team was defeated by the division-rival Blues at Scottrade Center.
After previously winning 10-straight contests, the Avalanche now enters the NHL All-Star Break with consecutive losses, something the team hasn't experienced since Dec. 5-7.
"It wasn't our best start," said defenseman Nikita Zadorov. "We had success in those 10 games because we had a really good first period all the time, putting a lot of pressure on their D, like forecheck. We skated, we had our legs and we scored lots of goals in the first period. We won those games. It didn't happen today, but we regrouped in the first intermission."

Colorado had better second and third frames, outshooting St. Louis 29-17 in the last 40 minutes but couldn't equalize the score.
The Blues scored their second power-play goal of the night midway through the second period to extend their lead to two, but the Avs got back to within one on Alex Kerfoot's marker late in the stanza.
"They have good players," Kerfoot said of St. Louis' man-advantage units. "They move the puck well, and they do a good job of getting shots to the net. That's what you got to do on the power play."
A popular a cliché in sports is that you need to play 60 minutes in order to win. While it is talked about a lot, competing hard for a full game might be the biggest factor in the NHL where the margin of error is so slim.
"Once we got our forecheck rolling in the second and third, I thought we started to take over the game," Bednar said. "We outshot them in the second and I'm sure the third as well. They won the first, and they got the lead."

The Avs had a good push in the last period, but the Blues added to their score column on a 2-on-1. They took advantage of Colorado trying to push the play up the ice while also bringing goaltender Jonathan Bernier to the bench for the extra attacker.
"We have three days off after that," Zadorov said of what was talked about in the locker room during the intermissions. "The message was give all you have. There was nothing to save for. All the boys stepped on the ice, we worked hard."
The All-Star Break will be a good time of reflection for the Avalanche, as the team looks back at how it was successful for much of the past several weeks and what hasn't gone well in the last two contests.
"We knew we weren't going to win the rest of the games throughout the season," Kerfoot said. "You're going to lose games at times. There are no excuses for our effort at the beginning of the game tonight. We got to regroup on this break and comeback better."

FIRST POINT

It took 45 games, but defenseman Anton Lindholm finally picked up his first NHL point.
Lindholm assisted on Alexander Kerfoot's goal with 2:51 remaining in the second period, as his shot from the point went off teammate Tyson Jost's stick, rebounded off goalie Carter Hutton and right to Kerfoot in the low slot.
"It was nice, and a nice play," Bednar said of Lindholm. "He got the puck up at the point, and he was under some pressure and he pulled it into the shooting lane and got it away quick."
A native of Skelleftea, Sweden, Lindholm is in his first full NHL season. He appeared in 12 contests last year for Colorado after beginning his first North American pro campaign in the minor leagues with San Antonio.

WARSOFSKY'S AVS DEBUT

David Warsofsky made his Avalanche debut after being a healthy scratch for the past six games.
The defenseman had played in 39 NHL contests entering this season, including seven last year with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He signed with the Avs in the offseason as a free agent and was one of the final cuts during training camp.
After recording four goals and nine assists in 34 games with the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League to begin this season, Warsofsky was recalled by the Avs following their bye week on Jan. 11. Thursday marked his first contest since the Jan. 9 AHL game at the San Jose Barracuda.
Warsofsky was paired on defense with rookie Anton Lindholm and finished the game with three shots on goal and six attempts in 15:05 of ice time.

HEALTH UPDATE

The NHL All-Star Break appears to be coming at a good time for the Avalanche, as it will allow several of its players to get healthy over the weekend.
"It really does," Bednar said of the break's timing. "We've been waiting on a handful of guys that have been day-to-day for quite some time, and just waiting for the day when they get the OK to go. It just hasn't come for us. Five, six guys, it is a lot of guys. Some guys are getting opportunities and stepping up, but now is a good time for the break and decompress."
J.T. Compher missed Thursday's game with an illness, while Mark Barberio was also out due to a lower-body injury.
Compher was replaced in the lineup by fellow rookie forward A.J. Greer, who had been a healthy scratch for the past four games. David Warsofsky took Barberio's spot on defense.

Defenseman Tyson Barrie once again was on the ice at morning skate in a red, non-contact jersey, but he is still day-to-day after fracturing his hand a month ago.
Forward Sven Andrighetto has been skating as well over the past few days as he tries to battle back from a lower-body ailment, but he did not take the ice on Thursday.
"He's off today. He had a good skate yesterday," Bednar said of Andrighetto after morning skate. "He's still day-to-day. He'll be after the All-Star Break as well. He's day-to-day. We just got to see when he progresses enough to play and take contact."
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov took part in morning skate as he continues to rehab from a lower-body injury. Bednar has said that the netminder's timetable for a return is also after this weekend's All-Star Break.
Forward Colin Wilson missed his third straight contest with an illness. He did not travel with the team on the road trip and instead stayed in Colorado to try and get healthy.

OFF TO ALL-STAR WEEKEND

While most of the Avalanche players will enjoy a few days away from the rink over the next three days, forward Nathan MacKinnon will be busy representing the club at the all-star festivities in Tampa, Florida.
MacKinnon, who is second in the league in scoring with 60 points (24 goals and 36 assists), is going to his second-straight mid-winter classic after making his debut at the event last year in Los Angeles. The center is the first Avalanche player to be named to back-to-back All-Star Games since Joe Sakic (2003-04, 2006-07).
He is also the first Colorado skater to reach the 60-point plateau by the All-Star Break since Alex Tanguay recorded 61 in 2003-04.
All-Star Weekend will kick off with the Skills Competition on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT (NBCSN). The All-Star Game on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. MT (NBC) will once again be a 3-on-3 tournament among the four divisions.