Avalanche going to the playoffs after beating Blues in showdown game

Springtime in Nashville? Why not?

The Avalanche – the Avalanche – is going to the playoffs.

After one of the worst seasons in NHL history last year, after most pundits predicted more doom and gloom for 2017-18, the Avalanche qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The Avs beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 at the Pepsi Center to surpass the Blues by one point in the standings (95-94). 

The Avs will thus play the Nashville Predators in the first round, with Game 1 starting probably Wednesday or Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

The Avs needed to win the game in regulation, and that they did. They thoroughly outplayed the Blues, who weren’t done any favors when they lost star forward Vladimir Tarasenko to an upper-body injury in the first period.

The first period had a long feeling-out process, as both teams seemed alternately gung-ho to attack and nervous to get caught deep.

The Avs had the better of the play for the most part, but with the clock ticking to less than a minute left, offense from an unexpected source struck. Sam Girard got just his fourth goal of the season, at the 19:14 mark. It was a slap-shot goal for Girard from the right point, after he took a pass from Blake Comeau.

The puck beat Blues goalie Jake Allen over his left shoulder, and the Avs had a 1-0 lead. The second period saw the Avs put 16 shots on Allen, some of them high-quality chances. Two of them went in. The first came off the stick of Tyson Barrie, at 6:11, on the power play and it survived a long offsides challenge by Blues coach Mike Yeo.

Replays were apparently inconclusive, though there was one – from the side of the blue line – that seemed to reveal a sliver of white ice between the black puck and blue line. The goal stood, however, and the Avs got a power play out of it, as penalty for the failed challenge.

The Avs had a bit of a lull after that, getting a little sloppy with the puck in their own end. Mark Barberio was called for slashing at 10:59, and the Blues capitalized. Jaden Schwartz, the former Colorado College star, tipped home Alex Pietrangelo’s shot from the point and the lead was cut in half.

Just when the Blues seemed to have gotten some real momentum back, however, Nathan MacKinnon picked the right time to break a long goal slump. With his first goal in 10 games, MacKinnon put a shot from the left circle past Allen at 16:58. It was his 39th of the season, with Gabe Landeskog notching an assist to reach the 60-point mark for the second time in his career.

Landeskog added the empty-netter with 3:23 left after the Blues pulled Allen from the game with 4:35 left.