The Colorado Avalanche had their two-game win streak ended Saturday with a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who won their 12th-straight game. Here are three key takeaways from the Avs’ loss:
1. Avalanche Dig Massive Hole Through First Half Of Game, Can’t Claw Their Way Out
The Avs knew they were up against a Blues team that was riding a massive win streak, but Colorado couldn’t stop St. Louis, allowing the Blues to score the first four goals of the game by the 8:53 mark of the second period. The Avalanche then scored the next three goals to make it 4-3 with 2:18 left in regulation time, but St. Louis locked up the win by getting an empty-net goal with 31 seconds left in the third frame.
The Avs gave up more than three goals in a loss for the first time since a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders Jan. 28. But the Blues proved to be deadly with the puck, and Colorado couldn’t do enough to thwart them early on.
2. Special Teams Were The Difference In Colorado Losing To The Blues
The loss to St. Louis can be chalked up to a tale of two special teams, with the Blues going 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Avalanche were 0-for-2 with the man advantge. If one of those two results were different in the Avs’ favor, Saturday’s game could’ve had a different result.
Colorado’s power play is still one of the best in the league, with their man-advantage ranking seventh in the NHL at 24.8 percent efficiency. But the Avalanche’s penalty kill is a different story, as it is ranked 15th-overall at 79.1 percent. In the Avs’ remaining four regular-season games, they need to be much better on the PK, as special teams often are the deciding factor in wins and losses in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Colorado has to be more disciplined and smarter in their own zone, because their first-round opponents — likely to be the Dallas Stars — have the second-best penalty-kill in the game at 84.6 percent, so the Avs’ PP probably won’t be as potent, and their PK will have to be significantly better.
3. Avs Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood Must Be More Consistent As Playoffs Draw Near
Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood allowed four Blues goals on 21 shots Saturday, for a save percentage of .810. That marked the third time in Blackwood’s past six games that he’s posted an SP of .900 or worse. And while it’s not so alarming as to cause major concern for Avs coach Jared Bednar, Blackwood’s consistency has to be better as the post-season gets near.
Blackwood still has a .914 SP in 54 appearances this season, but he’s going to be going up against a Stars team that has the NHL’s third-best offense at an average of 3.42 goals-for per-game, so Blackwood will be tested early and often in their probable first-round matchup. The way he responds will go a long way toward deciding who wins that series.
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