The Avalanche clinch a postseason berth with a 4-2 win over Blues

The week’s wait was worth it.

After a forced break due to COVID-19 protocols, the Avalanche renewed their rivalry with the Blues, and for the fifth time in six games this season, Colorado came out on top. The 4-2 victory clinched a playoff spot for the Avalanche, who were missing their leading goal scorer (Mikko Rantanen) and their starting goaltender (Philipp Grubauer), not that it mattered.

After surrendering the game’s first goal on the Blues’ first shot, goaltender Devan Dubnyk got his legs under him, stopping 25 of the next 26 shots as the Avs’ revamped offense did the rest.

“Real good game for us — for being the first one back — and happy to get that result. It was a pretty hard-fought, close hockey game,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Chances, I am sure, were pretty even 5-on-5, and both power plays got one (goal), so good all-around effort. I liked the way Dubnyk played in goal again tonight and gets us a big win, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

With Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi unavailable due to the coronavirus protocols, three of the Avs’ four lines dealt with changes. The one that didn’t — with Brandon Saad, Tyson Jost and Valeri Nichushkin — saw Saad tie the game at one at the end of the first period off an assist from Jost, but it was the Avs’ adjusted top line that did most of the damage.

Andre Burakovsky took Rantanen’s place, joining Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, and they never missed a beat. Burakovsky scored a pair of goals — one even-strength and one power-play — and both were assisted by MacKinnon. Landeskog assisted on Burakovsky’s second, even-strength goal, piling up a total of seven points on the night for the trio.

“It shows a lot of team character. It’s a tough team to play against, they make it hard for us, but I think in these two games we simplified our game; we’re not making a lot of mistakes. We chip it in when we need to and then we try to outwork them down low. I think we’ve been successful that way,” Burakovsky said. “You can’t have any excuses in this league; even if you feel a little bad, sick a little bit and been off for a couple days, every time you put those skates on, you’ve got to go out there and compete. You’ve got to do a job, no matter what.”

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (31-9-4, 66 pts) at Blues (19-19-6, 44 pts) | Saturday, Apr. 24 at 1:00 p.m. | TV: NBC.

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TEAM NOTES

• Jared Bednar coached his 360th game with the Avalanche, passing Bob Hartley for the most regular-season games in Avalanche history. Not bad for a coach that general manager Joe Sakic abruptly pulled out of the AHL in the wake of Patrick Roy’s resignation four years ago. Bednar still trails Hartley in total games by 46 games, given playoff appearances, and his .543 regular-season winning percentage sits sixth in Avs’ history behind Marc Crawford (.631), Hartley (.618), Joel Quenneville (.579), Roy (.577) and Tony Granato (.560).

• The Avalanche have dominated this season’s series with the Blues, winning five of six games and outscoring them, 22-12. Saturday’s series finale is in St. Louis, where the Blues have an unusually poor 7-11-4 record.

• Colorado’s road record stands at an impressive 13-5-2 (.700), tops in the NHL.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Devan Dubnyk won his second game in as many starts with the Avalanche. While neither of the two goals he surrendered were particularly impressive, Dubnyk’s veteran mindset kept him from being derailed by them. It’s only been two games, but the team looks comfortable playing in front of him, and despite allowing five goals in the two games, he has a respectable save percentage of .918.

• Patrik Nemeth made his Avalanche “re-debut” count, adding the kind of physical play that the team expected when they acquired the blueliner at the trade deadline. Nemeth led all Avs with six blocked shots, and led all defensemen with a plus-2 on the night. Nemeth previously played for the Avalanche between 2017 and 2019.

• Martin Kaut was called up from the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday, and played in his second game of the season Thursday. While he didn’t make a mark on the scoresheet in his 7:57 on the ice, he didn’t look overwhelmed, either. With the Eagles, he had five goals and nine assists in 13 games.

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THE FINAL WORD

“It was awesome. You even look back to the last St. Louis game before the little pause there, that was another gutsy effort by our team, and we pulled it together and we did the same thing tonight. We are getting contributions throughout all four lines, too, and our [defensemen] are playing great, and ‘Dubby’ (goaltender Devan Dubnyk) was outstanding tonight, too. It’s fun to play like that — when you are snapping it around and having fun — and everyone is buying in.” — Tyson Jost.

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INJURY WATCH

• Mikko Rantanen (COVID-19 protocol) missed the Apr. 21 game and his return date is uncertain.
• Joonas Donskoi (COVID-19 protocol) was placed on the list on Apr. 16, but could return next week.
• 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 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 Nazem Kadri, RW J.T. Compher
Third Line: LW Brandon Saad, C Tyson Jost, RW Valeri Nichushkin
Fourth Line: LW Liam O’Brien, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Martin Kaut

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: Devan Dubnyk

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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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