The St. Louis Blues were in Colorado to battle the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. It was a goalie duel between Semyon Varlamov and Ryan Miller.
The first was tightly contested, both teams registering eight shots on goal and both goalies stood strong. Lots of battles in the neutral zone with both teams making very good plays. Neither team were able to find the net in the first period, as both goalies were strong. The Avalanche controlled the physical aspect in the first, out-hitting the Blues 18-5.
The second period was domianted by the Blues during five-on-five play. Their puck control was impeccable and it showed. However, the Avalanche got the better part of the powerplay as the Blues were whistled twice in the second. The Blues penalty kill was strong, getting in front of shots and allowing Miller to see the shots that were coming on net.
Landeskog found himself wide open in front of the net during the first powerplay, and beat Miller glove side. However he couldn't beat the post and the Blues would kill the penalty shortly there after.
Then it was T.J. Oshie, showing off his skills, by walking the Avalanche defense, and dishing a pass over to David Backes for a tap-in goal. This was the second time in a week that Oshie shows off some flashy moves around the defense that resulted in a goal. Kevin Shattenkirk registered the secondary assist on the play.
The Avalanche picked up their play in the second half of the period and started to put more pressure on Ryan Miller and the Blues. They started cycling the puck well and then it Jan Hejda fired a slapper on goal, beat Ryan Miller, who was screen on the play, but the puck rang off the crossbar.
The second period would end with the Blues leading 1-0. The Blues registered ten shots in the second compared to the six by the Avalanche. The Avalanche were leading on the draws, 21-to-18 and were outhitting the Blues with 26 hits, while the Blues were credited with 13 through the first two periods.
Patrik Berglund continued his hot streak, scoring just under four minutes into the third period. He picked up the puck in front of the net, turns and rifled a shot past the glove of Varlamov. Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz registered the assists on the play.
The Avalanche wouldn't go away however, as Matt Duchene made a beautiful move to get to the front of the net and P.A. Parenteau would lift the puck past Miller to make it a one goal game. Duchene showed how elusive he can be with that move to get past Steve Ott.
Brendan Morrow laid a solid shoulder-to-shoulder on Patrick Bordeleau and you'd have thought Bordeleau was shot. Flopped on the ice like he was drilled in the head. Quite embarrassing to watch.
That Avalanche continued their pressure on the Blues, and really stifled the Blues offense. Alexander Steen had an opportunity to score his 30th of the year but Varlamov got a glove on it before Steen could get a shot off in the crease.
The pressure by the Avalanche was strong and Patrick Roy pulled Varlamov early, with nearly 2:30 to play.
Parenteau missed a wide open net, then it was Max Lapierre missed the empty net. Varlamov was put back in the net after an off-sides by the Blues but was pulled once the Avalanche got control of the puck. Ryan Miller, made stop after stop and stood on his head late in the third to hold the lead and earned his first every win against the Colorado Avalanche. His fourth straight victory as a St. Louis Blue.
The Blues moved four points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins for second in the race for the Presidents Trophy and are now just one point behind the Anaheim Ducks for first.
Nathan MacKinnon finished the night without a point, ending his 13 game point streak. He recently broke the rookie record, previous held by Wayne Gretzky, for points in consecutive games.
The Blues were out shot by the Avalanche 27-25 and 13-8 in the third period. The Blues finished on top on the dot, winning 33 of the draws while losing 30. David Backes finished the game winning 73% of his draws, Steen finished at 64%, Ott finished 56%, and Berglund finished at 50%.
Patrik Berglund scored his 12th goal of the year against the Avalanche, it was also his fourth goal in the last four games. He's starting to look like the second line center he was projected to be when drafted.
Ryan Miller made 26 saves to win his first ever game against the Colorado Avalanche. He moves to 4-0 with the Blues and he's allowed six goals in those four games, or a 1.50 goals against average in those four games.
T.J. Oshie registered his 34th assist of the season on the David Backes goal. Oshie is one assist away from his career high of 35, and is expected to set a new career high in assists and points.
Kevin Shattenkirk registered his 29th assist of the season. Tarasenko registered his 19th assist and Jaden Schwartz now has 28th assist of the season.
David Backes' goal tied him with Wayne Babych for 12th all time with 345 points. He is ten points away from tying Pierre Turgeon for tenth on the all time Blues points leader list. If Backes finishes his career with the Blues, he could very well end up 3rd or 4th on the all time list. He is also just six penalty minutes away from passing Jamal Mayers for tenth all time in Blues history, he currently has 750 penalty minutes in his career.