Avs embarrassed in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – It’s gotten to the point where you can just grab a pencil, scan the Colorado Avalanche schedule for @STL and write a little L in the box. Avs games in St. Louis have become scheduled losses, as sure as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

The latest game at the Scottrade Center went like they always go for the Avs: Terrible, sloppy start, a bit of a pushback in approximate minutes 20-25 and a fumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ rest of the way from there. The Avs to the Blues in St. Louis are the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.

Thursday’s 6-1 loss to the Blues means the Avs are now 2-13-0 in the last 15 in this building. It’s amazing to think the Avs have ever won here, in fact, though it was the site of one of the sweetest victories in team history – Game 4 of the 2001 Western Conference finals, when Stephane Yelle won it in overtime to put the Avs up 3-1 in the series.

Oh, how very distant that all seems now. The Avs just can’t play in this building. Aside from a great Gabriel Bourque breakaway goal that tied the game 1-1 early in the second period, they couldn’t string a pass together all night, botched defensive assignments all over the place, passed when they should have shot, shot when they should have passed and…well, you get the point.

Just about everyone was terrible in this one, but some more odious than others. That includes Colin ($4 million per this season and next) Wilson. The expensive import from Nashville has given the Avs exactly four goals and 12 points in 40 games. If coach Jared Bednar hoped he might get some offense from Wilson with more ice time from the Nathan MacKinnon injury, he’s been sorely disappointed. The least Wilson could do is provide some defense and solid physical work along the boards, but that was sorely lacking too. He was about 20 feet behind the play and left the front of the net open for the dagger goal of the night, a Kyle Brodziak slapper against Semyon Varlamov, who relieved Jonathan Bernier after two quick goals following the Bourque goal.

Bernier was yanked from the game after allowing three goals on 20 shots. Was he surprised by the quick hook?

“Yeah, I was, but I mean, at the same time, he was probably just trying to spark the team,” Bernier said.

Of the fluky second goal he allowed, Bernier said: “I’ve got to make that save. It hit my shoulder and went in. I thought I was in good position to cover everything, but it hit my shoulder and went in. It’s a tough bounce. We had just scored that big goal, by Bourquie, to make it 1-1.”

The Carl Soderberg-led third line was terrible too, a collective minus-6 through the first 40 minutes. Soderberg hasn’t scored since Jan. 18, pointless in his last seven games.

The only feelgood moment of the night for Avs fans? Probably, it was Nikita Zadorov’s flattening of Paul Stastny with a big first-period hit.

But then the Blues’ $7 million man went on to get his usual assist in a game against the Avs, on their fifth goal, and scored their sixth.

The Avs play here again March 15. Mark down the L now.

OTHER THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• Not that they got much help, but, boy, Bernier and Varlamov were awful too. This was Varly’s second appearance since returning from injury, and he just does not look the same. Yeah, his numbers might have looked OK in that first appearance, in Winnipeg, but plenty of people, myself included, thought he looked slower and not tracking the puck very well. That was definitely the case again here, and he is slated to get the start in the Avs’ next game, in Carolina.
• Bernier made some good early saves, but allowed an Ivan Barbashev shot to beat him from a bad angle from the left halfboards, then lost sight of a bouncing puck that Schenn put home to make it 3-1. That ended his night.
• Mikko Rantanen returned from injury, but I’m not sure I noticed him once all night when it mattered. Same with his other two linemates – Alexander Kerfoot and Gabe Landeskog.
• Landy, by the way, was challenged to a fight to start the game, against Brayden Schenn. He complied and did well in the bout, but that obviously did not translate into any momentum for the Avs.
• For Bourque, it was the second game in a row he scored a goal.
• The Avs have been outshot in four consecutive games.