One month.
That’s how long it had been since Andre Burakovsky had buried a puck behind an opposing goaltender. The 24-year-old started his Avs career looking unstoppable, picking up 13 goals in his first 31 games, but things have not been coming as easy for him lately. The lack of scoring didn’t bother him…as long as the team was picking up some victories.
“As long as we win, I don’t care if we score or not,” Burakovsky said after the Avs dispatched St. Louis 5-3 on Saturday afternoon. “It’s always nice to help the team get on the board, and it was nice getting one.”
While Burakovsky had been struggling to produce his own goals, he had been building momentum towards Saturday’s effort with a few weeks of strong play. Heading into the game against the Blues, the winger had recorded five assists in his previous seven outings, showing off a different side of his game. He also had an assist taken away in that same span due to an offsides review.
In the game against the Blues, other than scoring his own goal, Burakovsky assisted on Tyson Jost’s first goal since November 30, as Jost followed up a great chance for Burakovsky and buried it. Upon replay, the puck appeared as though it may have hit Burakovsky’s skate before going in (As of Sunday afternoon, there had been no scoring change), but he wasn’t going to admit it.
“I don’t know,” he deadpanned to me after I tried to get him to admit it.
The victory against the Blues on Saturday now ties up the season series for the Avs. After two tough losses in St. Louis, the Avs have taken advantage of the home ice, outscoring the Blues 12-6 in the two games at the Pepsi Center. The fifth and final matchup between the two teams will come in the final game of the regular season at the Pepsi Center.
The Avs know that the Blues are the team everyone uses as a measuring stick in the Western Conference and that you can’t take shortcuts against them.
“We have to play the right way,” Burakovsky told DNVR after the game. “We have to just chip it down and then chase it down there. We don’t want to turn it over in the neutral zone and I think we stayed away from that pretty good today.”
The Blues don’t make it easy on anyone. The key to beating them? Staying patient.
“They’re a really good team,” Burakovsky said. “They’re not going to give you a whole lot, so when they do you have to take advantage of it, and I think we did today.”
The Avs now have a chance to enter the All-Star Break and bye week with a very successful homestand. While they dropped the first two games in overtime, a win on Monday would give them a 3-0-2 record, giving them eight of the ten possible points they could have picked up.
On Monday, they will face off against the NHL-worst Detroit Red Wings before an 11-day break prior to their next game. The game against the Red Wings starts at 1 PM MST.
