Avalanche defeat Blues on Makar's late goal, push point streak to 14

DENVER -- Cale Makar scored with 41 seconds left in the third period for the Colorado Avalanche, who defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 and stretched their point streak to 14 games at Ball Arena on Saturday.

"I don't think it went straight in," said Makar, whose shot from the right point deflected past goalie Ville Husso. "It looked like it pinballed off quite a few things. I just tried to throw it at the net."
Nathan MacKinnon scored and Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for Colorado (25-8-4), which has won four in a row and is 12-0-2 in its streak, the longest in the NHL this season and tied for the second-longest in its history. The Avalanche had a 14-game streak (11-0-3) in 2002-03. The Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques record is 16 games (12-0-4) set in 2000-01.
Grubauer is on an 11-0-1 streak to match the Avalanche/Nordiques record for consecutive games (12) with a point by a goalie shared by Patrick Roy in 1996-97 and Peter Budaj in 2006-07.
"It felt almost like a playoff game," Grubauer said. "A pretty good performance from their goalie, us doing all the right things, shooting pucks, killing penalties. Those games are extremely fun to play. I wouldn't mind if the playoffs started tomorrow, but we'll see what's going to happen over the next couple weeks."

Ryan O'Reilly scored and Husso made 32 saves for St. Louis (16-15-6), which has lost six straight (0-5-1).
"I saw the guy shooting the puck from the blue line," Husso said of Makar's game-winning goal. "It hit something or not, but it was a little unlucky. It was a tough, tough goal for us for sure. We played pretty hard and every guy battled."
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 11:27 of the first period on a rush down right wing, shooting over Blues defenseman Torey Krug's stick.
"St. Louis came out and they were ready to play, they engaged early," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "It took us a couple minutes. Middle of the first period we started to find our legs a little bit, we were able to get on the board first. It was a tight checking game, there wasn't a lot of room to move. We haven't played a game like that in a little bit and I thought our guys handled it well."

O'Reilly tied it 1-1 at 18:04 in a goalmouth scramble 11 seconds after a Blues power play expired.
The Blues killed four Avalanche power plays, including a two-man advantage that lasted 1:13 in the second period to keep the game tied.
"We were really comfortable going into the third period," Grubauer said. "We all know what to do, we've played enough games. We got to continue to manage those games because it's like a playoff game and we can't allow breakaways, 2-on-1s or take stupid penalties. I think we did a pretty good job."
O'Reilly blamed himself for allowing Makar to take the winning shot.
"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "It's tough. We talked about not turning the puck over and making plays in the [defensive] zone and I make a terrible play, don't block a shot and it's in the back of the net and we don't even get a point. I've got to take responsibility for this one. It's kind of pathetic, my game tonight. We're not going to beat that team if I'm not at my best and turn the puck over way too much. A lot of guys did good things. I've got to eat this one; it's terrible by me."
The Avalanche haven't lost in regulation since March 8, 3-2 to the Arizona Coyotes.
"We're in a fight, a race to try and get home ice and put ourselves in the best possible position we can for the playoffs and our guys are taking it to heart and they're coming out every night with the right mindset and attitude and desire to win the hockey game," Bednar said. "I expect that to continue down the stretch."
NOTES: Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog had an assist on MacKinnon's goal, giving him 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in his past 14 games. … MacKinnon has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in his past 13 games.