Last season, Colorado and St. Louis played for all the marbles on the final day of the regular season. It was winner-take-all in terms of a playoff berth — actually for the Blues, all they needed was to take the game to overtime and secure one point to make the postseason. "We have a big group in here that was in that game last year, and it was probably the funnest game I've every played in," Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie said Monday following the Avalanche's morning skate at Enterprise Center. It wasn't much fun for the Blues, who lost 5-2 in that April 7 contest at Pepsi Center to take an early spring and miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Monday night at Enterprise, the teams aren't playing for all the marbles — but a lot of them. With four games left for each team, the Blues (42-28-8) have clinched a playoff spot but can still finish anywhere from first in the Central Division to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Stan Kroenke's Avalanche (36-29-13) currently hold down the eighth seed — or second wild-card spot — but with 85 points is only one point ahead of Arizona.<doc-sep>ST. LOUIS, MO - APRIL 1: Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the St. Louis Blues scores the game winning shootout goal against Philipp Grubauer #31 of the Colorado Avalanche at Enterprise Center on April 1, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images) The St. Louis Blues already had their burdens lifted by clinching the playoffs over the weekend. Wins now have to do with pride and playoff seeding. The St. Louis Blues took on the Colorado Avalanche for the final time in the regular season in 2018-19. I say final time for the regular season because there are still ways those two could face one another in the playoffs. It is very unlikely it would be a first round matchup. Still, nothing is out of the realm of possibility after the Blues have gone from worst in the league to battling for Central Division supremacy. The Blues wasted little time in getting things rolling in this game. Just minutes into the game, the Blues took a 1-0 lead on a Tyler Bozak goal. Unfortunately for Bozak, he won’t get any bump in his stats since the goal was taken away. The Avalanche challenged the play for offside and it was an easy decision for the refs. Still, the Blues had seized early momentum and never let it go. They would get their reward with a goal that could not be taken away about five minutes afterward. The Blues dominated the Avs potent offense too. The Blues were smothering them at every turn early in the game. Both teams went a bit silent in the second period. Despite the lack of offense, the physicality and rivalry toward this game picked up in intensity. The odd thing was that the Blues played pretty well in the third period. They created some chances and had a good deal of the puck possession. As sports tend to do, things turned the other way, however. The Avalanche tied the game up with two unanswered after the Blues had taken a two goal lead early in the period. Thankfully, lady luck, was not done with the Blues. After a few posts kept the Avs off the board, the game went to overtime and eventually a shootout. The Blues kept Colorado off the board and their one goal was all they needed. The game finished 3-2 and the Blues climbed one more rung on the ladder. Pros: Dominating Defense The goals against notwithstanding, the Blues had one of their best defensive games we have seen all season long. They were playing against a desperate team and kept them at bay almost the entire game. The first period was beyond impressive. St. Louis held Colorado to only two shots on goal in the opening frame. Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester were shutdown defenders extraordinaire. More often than not, they were tasked with shutting down Nathan MacKinnon and they were up to the task. Those two in particular were instrumental in slowing him down and shutting him out. If one was beaten, the other would step in and fill the gap. Everyone was joining in to stop these high flyers. Vladimir Tarasenko threw a big check on McKinnon to keep him away from the net. Vince Dunn and Alex Pietrangelo picked up the slack when they had to be out there against the Avs’ stars. The Avalanche came with force in the second and third periods. Even so, you felt the Blues were in control the entire time. Colorado’s goals were really good. That has not been the case for much of the year against the Blues. Most nights, you felt like they could have done something different to keep them out. This game was a very solid effort by all those in the defensive zone. It is a kick in the pants to surrender a point when you play that well, but sometimes the puck bounces the other way. Cons: Unstoppable Goals I joke with family members about goaltenders all the time. The running joke is that whatever player I am for would have made the save on all the goals that go in when my guy is not in there. I do not care which goaltender you prefer this season or any. There was no stopping either of the Avalanche’s goals in this one. Both goals were deflections, which completely alters the path the goaltender was tracking. Jordan Binnington had a fantastic night in this game, but he was not going to keep the clean sheet with these ones. NBC’s studio team made a brief comment about Binnington being slightly out of position on the first goal. Admittedly, he was quite far out of his crease, but I do not see that altering much. Gabriel Landeskog just made a fantastic play on the tip. Instead of an easy pad save, the puck ended up deflecting to Binnington’s left before he could even react. The second one was similar, except it went to Binnington’s right. This time, when the Avs were pressing with their net empty, they tossed one toward goal from the left point. Seemingly from nowhere, a stick reached out and just tapped it past the goalie who was moving the other way. Some might say it’s a good thing that you couldn’t do anything about the goals. It would mean nobody made any mistakes. I disagree because you would rather your goaltender have some sort of chance to make the save. Yeah, it stings less and there is nobody to be mad at, but you are robbed of the opportunity to keep them off the board. Big Players In Big Moments In these articles, I try not to focus simply on this guy scoring that goal. However, the Blues got some of their best guys to come up big in the right moments. Of course, Binnington had another solid game. Sometimes he is so cool in the crease that you overlook his play. He made several quality stops even though he was not incredibly busy.<doc-sep>Few things have come easily for the Avalanche lately, and the Blues didn’t exactly budge against them on Monday night. So, while Colorado obviously would’ve preferred to win against St. Louis, getting a “charity point” was very, very important. The Blues generated a lopsided 15-2 shots on goal advantage in the first period, but only managed a 1-0 lead. The Avalanche pushed back in the second and beyond, yet when Vladimir Tarasenko made it 2-0 just 14 seconds into the third period, it looked like there would be a big win for the Blues — and, indirectly, the Arizona Coyotes. Colorado stayed scrappy, however, and managed to push the game into overtime and then a shootout, with the Blues ultimately coming out on top 3-2 (SO). A few players stood out for both sides. Each goalie was fantastic. Philipp Grubauer made plenty of tough saves, particularly when the Blues were skating circles around his Avs, and he’s been clutch for Colorado during a time when they’ve really struggled to score goals. Gabriel Landeskog was able to return to action earlier than his injury recovery window indicated, and he’s carved out vital points for the team he captains. Landeskog collected an assist in Colorado’s shootout win against Arizona, and then scored a goal and assisted on the last-minute tying goal by Alexander Kerfoot: Jordan Binnington remains a rock in net for the Blues, stopping 26 out of 28 shots. The Blues are getting great efforts up and down their lineup, making them a sometimes-relentless opponent. Ryan O'Reilly scored the only goal in the shootout against his former team: With this win, the Blues now have 94 points in 79 games played, keeping them in the running as they jockey for position with the Jets and Predators for the Central Division title, or at least home-ice advantage in the first round. Monday might have been their toughest remaining test of the regular season, as the Blues’ final three opponents all are located outside of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Avalanche have a tougher haul going forward, and the Coyotes pose a threat to their playoff positioning: WC 2: Avalanche – 86 points with three games remaining, 34 regulation/OT wins. Ninth: Coyotes – 84 points with three games remaining, 34 ROW. It’s been a grind for the Avs, and their work clearly isn’t done yet, but finding a way to get points on nights like these might ultimately make up the difference between missing the playoffs or playing beyond game 82. — James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.<doc-sep>NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Monday night’s matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here. Colorado enters this matchup with a one-point lead over Arizona – and a game in hand – for the final Wild Card spot in the West. On Sunday, Darcy Kuemper and the Coyotes shut out the Wild 4-0, dropping Minnesota’s playoff chances to less than 1%. The Avs are coming off a 3-2 win against Arizona on Friday to improve to 6-0-1 in their past 7 games – all started by Philipp Grubauer. They did concede a point to the Coyotes in blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period (and also the opportunity to pick up a “ROW”), but Nathan MacKinnon scored the lone goal in the shootout to give Colorado the two points. Grubauer has started each of the past seven games for Colorado, boasting a 1.55 GAA and .957 SV% to go along with the 6-0-1 record in those contests. The 2018 Stanley Cup champ with Washington is providing a similar influence on the Avs this season as he did for the Caps last season. The Blues clinched a playoff berth on Friday and will make their seventh playoff appearance in the last eight seasons. Then on Saturday, St. Louis beat New Jersey 3-2 to pull them within two points of the Central lead (the Jets and Predators both have 94 points). On the morning of Jan. 3, the Blues were 15-18-4 and last in the NHL. Since then, they have gone 27-10-4 to become the seventh team since the 1967 expansion – and first in over 20 years – to make the playoffs after ranking last in the entire League at any point after Jan. 1. Since the Blues are in the hunt for the Central crown, it is worth mentioning that only one team in NHL history has won its division after sitting in last place at any point after its 20th contest: the 2007-08 Capitals, who sat in last place overall through 30 games before claiming the Southeast Division title. [WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET – NBCSN] What: Colorado Avalanche at St. Louis Blues Where: Enterprise Center When: Monday, April 1, 7 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Avalanche-Blues stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app. PROJECTED LINES AVALANCHE Alexander Kerfoot – Nathan MacKinnon – J.T. Compher Gabriel Landeskog – Carl Soderberg – Colin Wilson Derick Brassard – Tyson Jost – Matt Calvert Matt Nieto – Sven Andrighetto – Gabriel Bourque Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson Ian Cole – Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov – Patrik Nemeth Starting goalie: Philipp Grubauer BLUES Brayden Schenn – Ryan O'Reilly – Vladimir Tarasenko Jaden Schwartz – Oskar Sundqvist – David Perron Patrick Maroon – Tyler Bozak – Robert Thomas Zach Sanford – Ivan Barbashev – Alex Steen Vince Dunn – Alex Pietrangelo Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko Carl Gunnarsson – Roberto Bortuzzo Starting goalie: Jordan Binnington<doc-sep>
The Colorado Avalanche came into tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues knowing full well what is on the line. In control of their own destiny for a playoff spot, the Avs faced a Blues team that is fighting just as hard for seeding in the playoffs and the Central Division crown. The fact the Avs came away with one point in a 3-2 shootout loss should be considered a big victory. Colorado was dominated in the first period in ugly fashion and it looked like it was going to be a long night for the Avs. But if there is any question this team deserves to be in the playoffs, you can look at a game like tonight and see this team has no quit in them. They overcame a 2-0 third period deficit to tie it with under a minute to go and the goalie pulled to force overtime and grab a point they probably didn’t deserve. While the Avs might have lost in the shoot-out, they gained a point and now hold a two point lead over the idle Arizona Coyotes with three games remaining. First Period The Blues came out of the gates flying and would control much of the first period as the Avalanche struggled to get any type of cohesion. St. Louis played a fast, physical game and it paid off early despite an early goal being waved off due to the Blues being offsides and a successful challenge by coach Bednar. It wouldn’t be much longer after the reversed St. Louis goal where the Blues would score one that would count by Jaden Schwartz. Colorado would get a power play chance after a dirty boarding penalty by Robert Thomas with 1:17 left in the period, but wouldn’t get a good chance to tie the game before the period would end with the limited time available. St. Louis was clearly the better team in the first and had Colorado chasing for the majority of the period. The Avs wouldn’t register their first shot on goal until 5:13 left in the period by Gabriel Landeskog, and they would finish the first with a grand total of two shots on goal compared to the Blues 15. Much has been said about the play of Philipp Grubauer in this last recent stretch of success and rightly so. He earned even more praise after the first. If not for his continued stellar play this game would have gotten out of hand after 20 minutes. Second Period The carried over penalty would expire with no shots on goal but Colorado, perhaps embarrassed by their play in the first, came out and looked like a totally different team. They were the ones controlling play in the second and had some very good scoring chances to get on the board and tie the game. If nothing else the Avs were involving Blues goalie Jordan Binnington more by testing the young netminder. The effort between the two periods was incredibly noticeable. The Avs were attacking rather than skating on their heels. They were finishing checks, beating the Blues (pun intended) to the puck and keeping it in the offensive zone for extended periods of time. The second period really turned up the heat on the physical play. Multiple times Nikita Zadorov had the opportunity to drop the gloves. I have to give credit to the man for not doing so. He didn’t let the emotion of the game get to him and didn’t forget the importance of it to his team. Though no team scored in the second period, the Avs flipped the script from the first to the second. Whatever was said at the first intermission lit a fire under the team and they came out ready to compete. Nathan MacKinnon was on the bench for an extended period of time towards the end of the period and it was not known why. He would return with under two minutes left and while it was for a short shift did not appear to be favoring anything. We will keep you updated as his status becomes available. Third Period Blink, and you might have missed the Blues take command with a goal 14 seconds into the third period when Vladimir Tarasenko hammered home a short range goal after a Grubauer save. Grubauer had the angle but Tarasenko being the scorer he is found the smallest of holes in the Grubs armor.