DENVER – There is hope for the St. Louis Blues after all. Remember – and how could you forget — they were outshot by about a million to one in Game 1 as Colorado put on a dazzling display of speed and skating.
But in the playoffs, what happens in one game frequently has no bearing on what happens in the next one. And somehow, the Blues found a way to escape the Mile High City with a 4-1 victory Thursday, tying the best-of-seven playoff series at one game apiece.
As was the case in Round 1, when the Blues split their first two game in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild, they have negated Colorado’s home ice advantage. The next two games are in St. Louis, with Game 3 set for 7 p.m. (or thereabouts) Central at Enterprise Center on Saturday.
After his team managed only two goals and was outshot 54-25 in the Game 1 overtime loss, coach Craig Berube changed all three of his top lines. It was a bold move because two of the three had not opened a game together all season until Thursday. But it worked.
He also went with the unorthodox lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the fifth game in a row in the postseason and the 21st time overall this season.
Jordan Binnington, once against wearing those dark blue pads, improved to 9-2-0 since being yanked in an early April contest in Edmonton. Entering Thursday, Binnington – and the Blues as a whole – had lost six straight postseason games to the Avalanche, dating back to the Edmonton Bubble in 2020.
The Blues’ best period in Game 1 was the first. The Blues were even better in the first period Thursday, but unlike Tuesday – when they led 1-0 after one – this game was scoreless after the first 20 minutes.
St. Louis got some good looks early, outshooting the Avs 5-1 in the opening five minutes. They were much better with their zone exits, and even won a faceoff or two. After losing nearly two of three faceoffs on Tuesday, the Blues were exactly at 50 percent at 11 of 22 after one period.
Colorado had only one of those mesmerizing periods of puck possession, where they took several laps around the St. Louis zone. And later in the period, Colorado had a sequence where it got some steady pressure in front of the net.
But both goalies were sharp and impenetrable in the opening period and St. Louis had a 14-8 edge in shots on goal. Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper left a few rebounds, but the Blues couldn’t capitalize.
However, it was the second period where the Blues’ troubles started Tuesday, when they were outscored 2-0 and outshot 19-9. Nothing like that happened this time around. The Avalanche had a narrow 11-10 edge in shots on goal, but it was the Blues who outscored Colorado 2-0 in the period.
Jordan Kyrou, switched to a line centered by Robert Thomas, got the scoring going. He skated into the Colorado zone, one-on-one with Sam Girard. He didn’t have the best look or best angle but let it rip. Well, it deflected off Girard’s blade, fluttering high to beat Kuemper.
Kyrou’s fifth goal of the playoffs and second in as many as many games against Colorado, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at the 5:45 mark of the second period.
And that’s where it stayed for most of the second. The game’s first penalty was called 371/2 minutes into the contest when Brayden Schenn was whistled for hooking J.T. Compher. The Avalanche got only one shot on goal and the Blues killed it off.
Colorado switched Gabriel Landeskog to the Nathan MacKinnon line in the second period, and as the period wound down, the Avs got more and more possession time as the ice started tilting their way.
But with 2:21 to play in the period, Devon Toews was called for tripping Scott Perunovich behind the St. Louis net. So the Blues got their first power play of the night. The 5-on-4 advantage for the Blues became a 5-on-3 when Valeri Nichushkin was called for goaltender interference.
He absolutely trucked Binnington, charging to the net. Binnington wasn’t happy about it either, skating out to the neutral zone to express his displeasure when Nichushkin was getting escorted to the penalty box.
The Blues called a timeout right after the penalty was called, and sent out five forwards for the 5-on -3. Pavel Buchnevich was running the point instead of a defenseman. It paid off when David Perron sent one of his patented shots from the left circle past Kuemper with 33.8 seconds left in the period.
It continued the Blues’ string of at least one power play goal in every playoff game this postseason. For Perron, it was his team-leading sixth goal of the playoffs and the Blues took a 2-0 lead into the third period – plus 36 seconds of 5-on-4 power play to start the period.
The Blues got nothing going with those 36 seconds to start the third. But the Avalanche got on the board with their first power play goal of the series. Perron was whistled for hooking at the 1:24 mark.
Camped out in front, Landeskog got a wrist shot past Binnington and it was a 2-1 game just 1:49 into the third. The crowd, which had grown silent down 2-0, came to life in a big way.
The Avalanche also came to life, outshooting the 9-2 over the first half of the third period.
But then, the flying French-Canadian – Perron – came skating down right wing on a 2-on-1. He had Buchnevich on his left and only Andre Burakovsky defending. Perron kept the puck and ripped a shot from the right circle past Kuemper to make it a 3-1 game with 9:29 left in regulation.
Brandon Saad then added an empty-net goal with 1:50 left.
