The Avalanche held a team meeting on Tuesday morning to reestablish championship expectations after four consecutive losses.
Head coach Jared Bednar joined veteran players in speaking out. The message to the team?
“We’ve taken a dip,” Bednar said after morning skate. “Now, it’s time to get it back.”
The Avs took that advice to heart in a 5-3 victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena. Colorado exploded for three goals in the second period from Val Nichushkin, Erik Johnson and Josh Manson. Meanwhile, Avs goaltender Darcy Kuemper was solid, making 28 of 31 saves.
The Avalanche (56-18-6) have only two games left in the regular season — home on Thursday against the Nashville Predators and at the Minnesota Wild on Friday — before opening the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference. Colorado’s 118 points on the year tie a club record set by the 2001 Stanley Cup championship team.
A six-minute stretch in the second period on Tuesday made all the difference in an Avalanche victory.
It began with a Nathan MacKinnon faceoff win that found its way to Nichushkin. The Russian-born forward circled the high slot and beat St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington with a slick wrister. Johnson followed it up moments later by rebounding a J.T. Compher attempt at the net. A Manson shot past Binnington gave Colorado a 3-0 lead. Blues forward Brandon Saad closed the second with a power-play goal.
Colorado extended its advantage just nine seconds into the third when Artturi Lehkonen went five-hole through Binnington. But the Blues weren’t done yet. St. Louis forward Ryan O’Reilly scored twice (once with Binnington pulled) to get within a single goal. Kuemper staved off the comeback attempt with several clutch saves over the final two minutes. Nazem Kadri scored on an open net to seal the Colorado win.
A scoreless first period nearly broke open in an unconventional way. The Blues pulled Binnington on a delayed Avs penalty call when a loose puck careened off the boards and headed toward the open St. Louis net. Colorado would have scored had it not been for the diving effort of Blues defenseman Marco Scandella.
Before the game, Avalanche forward Alex Newhook expressed gratitude for the team’s leadership group. Their words of encouragement in that Tuesday morning meeting clearly stuck.
“We’ve got so many veteran guys in the room that can steer us in the right direction here,” Newhook said. “It’s great when our coaching staff’s message is the same that the players are carrying out. … It’s comforting to have that as a piece of our team here. It’s going to be important going down the stretch.”
______
