Blues 3, Avalanche 1
ST. LOUIS -- Troy Brouwer and Vladimir Tarasenko scored 2:58 apart in the second period to send the St. Louis Blues to their fifth consecutive win Tuesday night, a 3-1 victory over Colorado that dealt a major blow to the Avalanche's playoff hopes.
The victory kept the Blues tied with the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference with five games left in the regular season.
The Avalanche fell five points behind the Minnesota Wild in the race for the second wild card spot in the conference, also with five games to play, after the Wild defeated the Blackhawks 4-1.
The Blues' bid for a fifth consecutive shutout came to an end with 1:48 left in the first period on a goal from Mikhail Grigorenko off a pass from Tyson Barrie, tying the game at 1-1, after the Blues' David Backes scored his 20th goal of the year on a power play just 1:48 into the game to give St. Louis the early lead.
The goal by Grigorenko was the first allowed by the Blues in 258:29, a franchise record and the third-longest streak in the NHL since 1987. Not counting that goal, which was into an empty net, it was the first goal allowed by the Blues while the goalie was on the ice in 280:02. Brian Elliott had stopped 74 consecutive shots before the goal.
The Blues regained the lead 9:30 into the second period with their second power-play goal of the night. Brouwer scored his 16th goal of the year off a pass from Paul Stastny, who has 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists) in his last 10 games.
Colorado had come into the game having given up only two power-play goals on their last 42 penalties over their previous 14 games.
Tarasenko increased the lead to 3-1 with an unassisted goal following a Colorado turnover 2:58 later. It was his 36th goal of the season.
NOTES: C Alexander Steen was back in the Blues' lineup for the first time since Feb. 20. He missed the previous 15 games because of an upper-body injury. ... Blues D Jay Bouwmeester missed his third consecutive game as he deals with a possible concussion. ... RW Dmitrij Jaskin was scratched from the Blues' lineup to make way for Steen's return. ... The Avalanche were without their two leading scorers, C Matt Duchene and C Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom are dealing with knee injuries. Duchene has 29 goals and 27 assists, while MacKinnon has 21 goals and 31 assists. ... Both the Blues and Capitals are off until Friday, when the Blues host the Boston Bruins and the Avalanche host the league-leading Washington Capitals.