ST. LOUIS — It was a typical disappointing Avalanche result at the Enterprise Center, but this time in a midseason showdown worth Central Division and Western Conference supremacy.
The Avs, riding a nine-game points streak Monday night, expected more of themselves in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. The defending Stanley Cup champions overcame a 2-1 deficit by scoring two power-play goals late in the second period, and they dominated the third to match Colorado with a conference-high 21 wins.
The Avs (21-9-3, 45 points), who have two games in hand over their division rival, dropped to 3-17 in their last 20 games in St. Louis. The Blues (21-8-6, 48 points) went 4-0 overall against Colorado last season and are now 2-0 this season, with both games in St. Louis.
“They’re a really good hockey team. They’re the defending Stanley Cup champion for a reason,” said Avs defenseman Ian Cole, a two-time Cup champion with Pittsburgh. “Hopefully, this is a wakeup call for us. I think you see a team that’s very dedicated, very structured and very committed to their structure. (St. Louis) has been successful obviously last year and into this season for a reason. I think we can learn some lessons from that, for sure.”
Winger David Perron scored a hat trick for the Blues, Vince Dunn struck once and Jordan Kyrou scored his first goal of the season for an unassisted insurance tally at 11:24 of the third period to give the Blues a 4-2 lead. Perron completed his hat trick at 16:05 in the third period with Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer on the bench for a sixth attacker.
The Avs trailed 1-0 early but controlled most of the second period and took a 2-1 lead on goals by and .
Kadri scored off the faceoff, winning the draw before tapping the puck in back-door on a pass from . Rantanen used his big slap shot from the right wing on Colorado’s first power play to give the visitors the lead.
But then Kadri took a double-minor for high-sticking. A collision with Blues defenseman Colton Parayko sent Kadri flying to his back and his stick struck Parayko, causing blood, at 18:05 of the second period.
“They controlled the whole first period, for me,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And then I kind of felt we controlled the second until that double-minor. We were playing good. We came back. We built a lead. And then (during) the double-minor they made some plays. … I thought they dominated the third. Just a better performance by them.”
The Blues capitalized on the power play at 18:47 and 19:23. First, Perron used a near-side wrist shot from the left circle to beat . Then Dunn made a give-and-go tap-in with Tyler Bozak to send St. Louis into the second intermission with all the momentum.
“We went from having a one-goal lead to being down a goal. That’s obviously not ideal,” Cole said. “Like I said, I hope this is a bit of a wake-up call for us. When we play well, we can take it to a really good hockey team. When we don’t, we’re not as good as we think we are.”
Footnotes. The Avs’ healthy scratches were forward and defenseman . … Assuming the Avs depart as scheduled amid the ongoing snowstorm, they’ll land in Chicago around midnight. They face the at the United Center on Wednesday to conclude their two-game Central Division trip.
