Avalanche 2, Blues 1 (SO)
DENVER -- Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 33 saves through overtime and stopped three more in the shootout, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Friday night.
Center Nathan MacKinnon had a tying goal in the final minute of regulation and left winger Gabriel Landeskog had the only score in the shootout.
After Landeskog scored to open the shootout, Varlamov made three big saves. His second one, on right winger Vladimir Tarasenko, was upheld under review after Varlamov smothered the puck near the goal line.
Goalie Brian Elliott had 40 and left winger Alexander Steen scored for the Blues, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
MacKinnon tied it with his 16th of the season at 19:07 of the third. Varlamov went off with 2:09 remaining on the clock and Colorado swarmed in the St. Louis zone.
It paid off when center Matt Duchene sent a cross-ice pass to MacKinnon coming down the left side, and the young center put it in the wide-open net.
The Blues got the first goal of the game a turnover by the Avalanche. Right winger Troy Brouwer stole the puck when center Carl Soderberg tried to clear the zone and he fed Steen as he got to the right circle.
It was Steen's 15th of the season.
The goal came during a time when the clock on the scoreboard froze with 2:39 left in the second. The public address announcer called out the time remaining at regular intervals, and the clock started working at the start of the third period.
Varlamov got his body on Steen's shot but it snuck through and rolled into the net at 17:57. It was his 15th of the season.
Soderberg appeared to atone for his turnover when he poked the puck through the legs of Elliott to tie it at 6:16 of the third, but the goal was waved off when the play was deemed dead by the officials.
NOTES: Colorado D Erik Johnson's return to the lineup has been pushed back to Saturday's game at Dallas. Johnson, who has now missed nine games with a knee injury, was hopeful to return against St. Louis but the medical and training staffs wanted to give him one more day. ... The Blues sent D Andre Benoit to the Chicago Wolves on the AHL. ... Avalanche RW Blake Comeau was out of the lineup to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple's daughter earlier Friday. ... The Blues play at Chicago on Sunday in their last game before the All-Star break. St. Louis has eight days off before playing Nashville on Feb. 2.