ST. LOUIS — The Avalanche is not going to put a lot of stock into its 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Friday night.
Playing their second game in as many nights and with a third game in four days coming Sunday, the Avs left most of their veteran regulars in Colorado, and it showed. What also showed were flashes of what some of the young players can do, including No. 3 overall pick Matt Duchene, who had a hand in both Colorado tallies with a goal and an assist.
“It was another opportunity for us to evaluate our young players, and I really thought they held their own tonight,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “We played against a team that had a lot of NHL regulars in their lineup, and St. Louis came out and got on us right from the start.”
The Blues, playing their first preseason game and with veteran stars Keith Tkachuk and Paul Kariya in the lineup, led 3-0 with five minutes left in the first period. The third goal, credited to Alex Steen unassisted, actually was put into the net by the Avs’ Wojtek Wolski, who had tried to clear the puck with a backhanded flip near the crease that instead went over the left shoulder of Tyler Wei-man and into the Avs’ net.
The Avs trailed 4-0 but scored late in the second period on a wrister from Chris Stewart. The goal was set up by a nice pass from the right wing by Kyle Cumiskey, and Duchene also had an assist on the play. But it was Duchene’s goal 26 seconds into the third period that was a highlight.
Duchene did all the work, picking off a pass at center ice, skating in with Blues star defenseman Erik Johnson in his pocket, and sending a heavy slap shot past Blues goalie Jake Allen.
“At this level, you’ve got to shoot through screens,” Duchene said. “I was able to throw it through Johnson’s legs on the shot, and I don’t think Allen picked it up until it was by him. It was a good play, but there’s got to be more of those.”
Footnotes.
Avs center T.J. Hensick left the game at 6:45 of the second period and did not return. Sacco said Hensick had a cut above the eye that required stitches. . . . Two of the Avs goal-scorers Thursday, Marek Svatos and rookie Ryan Stoa, were among the 21 players who did not travel to St. Louis. Kariya said it was weird facing an Avalanche team without Joe Sakic, “He’s one of the best players to ever play the game.”
Colorado 0 1 1 — 2
St. Louis 3 1 2 — 6
First period — 1, St. Louis, Drazenovic 1 (Talbot, Armstrong), 9:39. 2, St. Louis, Kariya 2 (Tkachuk, Johnson), 12:26. 3, St. Louis, Steen 1, 15:02. Penalties — Durno, Col, major (fighting), 7:10; Strachan, StL, major (fighting), 7:10; Hendricks, Col (holding), 17:08.
Second period — 4, St. Louis, Oshie 1 (Winchester, Berglund), 4:18. 5, Colorado, Stewart 1 (Duchene, Cumiskey), 18:52. Penalties — Wolski, Col (tripping), :27; Kariya, StL (hooking), 5:58; Yip, Col, major (fighting), 12:34; Talbot, StL, major (fighting), 12:34; Koci, Col (roughing), 16:51; Crombeen, StL (roughing), 16:51.
Third period — 6, Colorado, Duchene 1, :26. 7, St. Louis, Crombeen 1 (McClement, Steen), 3:36. 8, St. Louis, Armstrong 2 (Tkachuk, Kariya), 6:41. Penalties — Winchester, StL (elbowing), 4:21; Durno, Col (hooking), 9:39; Crombeen, StL (interference), 15:07.
Shots on goal — Colorado 8-14-5 — 27. St. Louis 13-11-12 — 36. Power-play opportunities — Colorado 0 of 3; St. Louis 0 of 3. Goalies — Colorado, Weiman 0-1-0 (36 shots-30 saves). St. Louis, Conklin 1-0-0 (22-21), Allen (0:00 third, 5-4).
Attendance — 10,042 (19,150). T — 2:27.
Referees — Chris Lee, Ian Walsh. Linesmen — Derek Amell, Bryan Pancich.
