Avalanche come out flat, play poorly in sloppy, 4-1 loss to Blues

The Colorado Avalanche have their sights set on the West Division title, and their next game pits them against current leader Vegas as the regular season draws to a close.

On Monday, the Avs looked as if they were perhaps too focused on Wednesday’s tilt as head coach Jared Bednar rolled out third-string goaltender Jonas Johansson. The rest of team appeared to take that as a sign, and Colorado proceeded to play the rest of their eventual 4-1 loss to the Blues as if the game didn’t matter all that much.

“I didn’t like our first period,” Bednar said. “I thought that we didn’t compete at the level St. Louis competed at in the first period, and we didn’t look like we had our brains turned on, either.”

The Blues roared to a 3-0 lead early in the second period before Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal for the Avalanche to finally get them on the scoreboard. The enthusiasm generated lasted for just over two minutes, as Robert Thomas scored to make the game 4-1 in St. Louis’ favor, all but putting the game away as the two teams went through the motions in a scoreless final frame.

“Frustrating night, no doubt,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “It was a game where when your effort isn’t there and your brain’s not turned on right from the get-go, it’s hard to catch up.”

Despite their lackluster performance Monday, the Avalanche still sit only four points behind the Golden Knights with a game in hand and an opportunity to cut Vegas’ lead in half on Wednesday — something that Landeskog says the Avs can’t take for granted.

“Our goal is still to win the division and make sure we’re catching Vegas and putting ourselves in a good spot going to the playoffs. Nights like this aren’t nearly good enough. We’ve got to make sure, by the time playoffs come around, that we’re hitting on all cylinders and we’re playing well and everyone’s feeling good — and that’s going to take a lot of hard work.”

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (31-11-4, 66 pts) at Golden Knights (34-11-2, 70 pts) | Wednesday, Apr. 28 at 7:30 p.m. | TV: NBCSN

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TEAM NOTES

• The Avalanche’s depth will be further tested by the loss of Brandon Saad — the fifth-leading goal scorer on the Avalanche with 15 — who will miss two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury. While the team is hopeful that he can return before the first round of the playoffs, his loss is a sizable one for the Avs. The sooner the team can get Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi back, the better.

• The Avs’ lone goal came on a power-play opportunity that Nathan MacKinnon cashed in. That extended the team’s streak to six games with a power-play goal, hitting on 28 percent (7-for-25) of their attempts during the streak.

• While the Avalanche didn’t play well on Monday, they were throwing their bodies around the ice; their 36 hits on Monday marked a new season-high.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 14 games by scoring the Avs’ only goal on Monday. MacKinnon’s 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) in 42 games ranks third in the NHL.

• Mikko Rantanen is expected to rejoin the Avalanche on Friday, according to head coach Jared Bednar. Rantanen had been sidelined for COVID-19 contact tracing, but he did not contract the virus. Rantanen leads the Avs in goals (26) by a wide margin, and is second on the team in scoring (52 points) behind only Nathan MacKinnon.

• Philipp Grubauer looks close to a return. On 104.3 The Fan’s “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar,” team reporter Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow.com said that he expects Grubauer to start in net against San Jose on Friday night in Denver. Grubauer has missed four games due to COVID-19 protocols.

• Joonas Donskoi is expected to start skating on Thursday. Donskoi had been undergoing cardiac tests, and it’s unlikely that he’ll return any earlier than late next week.

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THE FINAL WORD

“Our first period was dog****. We were so bad in the first period. Pardon my language, but I don’t know how else to explain it. We were bad in every single area of the game in the second period.” — Gabriel Landeskog.

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INJURY WATCH

• Brandon Saad (lower-body injury) was injured on Apr. 24 and is expected to miss two-to-four weeks.
• Mikko Rantanen (COVID-19 protocol) missed the Apr. 21 game and his return date is uncertain. Rantanen was removed from the COVID-19 list on Apr. 26.
• Joonas Donskoi (COVID-19 protocol) was placed on the list on Apr. 16, but could return before the end of April. Donskoi was removed from the COVID-19 list on Apr. 26.
• Philipp Grubauer (COVID-19 protocol) will miss “more than 14 days,” according to head coach Jared Bednar on Apr. 14. He is expected to return around May 1.
• Bowen Byram (COVID-19 protocol) will be out until at least late April.
• Logan O’Connor (lower-body injury) was placed on injured reserve on Apr. 2. He is expected to be out indefinitely, but it would be a surprise if returned before early May.
• Matt Calvert (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 31 game and was placed on the injured reserve list on Apr. 11.
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury, COVID-19 protocol) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and has no projected return date. On March 25, coach Jared Bednar suggested that it was possible that Johnson could miss the remainder of the season.
• Pavel Francouz (hip) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve. On Apr. 12, the Avalanche ruled him out for the rest of the season following hip surgery.

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LAST NIGHT’S LINES

FORWARDS
Top Line: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Andre Burakovsky
Second Line: LW Carl Soderberg, C Tyson Jost, RW Valeri Nichushkin
Third Line: LW J.T. Compher, C Nazem Kadri, RW Martin Kaut
Fourth Line: LW Liam O’Brien, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Kiefer Sherwood

DEFENSEMEN
Top Pair: LD Samuel Girard, RD Devon Toews
Second Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Cale Makar
Third Pair: LD Patrik Nemeth, RD Conor Timmins

GOALTENDER
Starter: Jonas Johannson

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Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan. Follow him on Twitter at @sdrotar.

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