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 They haven't found a way to stop Nathan MacKinnon with the game on
the line, however.
MacKinnon again scored late in regulation against the Blues,
goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 33 saves through overtime and stopped
three more in the shootout, and the Avalanche rallied to beat the
Blues 2-1 on Friday night.
It was the second time in two weeks Colorado has rallied to beat St.
Louis, and both times MacKinnon tied it up.
In the Avalanche's 4-3 win on Jan. 6 he scored with 1:29 left to
send it to overtime. Friday, his goal with 53.7 seconds left tied it
up.
"I got a lucky bounce the last time I tied it up," the center said.
"(Friday), it was a great play by my teammates and I'm just happy it
hit the net."
Goalie Brian Elliott had 40 and left winger Alexander Steen scored
for the Blues, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Colorado has won all three matchups with the Blues this season.
"You play 60 minutes like that -- well, 59 -- and you don't come out
with a win," Elliott said. "It's frustrating but it's a lesson that
you have to put teams away."
Left winger Gabriel Landeskog scored on the first attempt in the
shootout and Varlamov made it stand with three big saves.
It was Colorado's first shootout of the season.
"I've been waiting a long time for those shootouts," Varlamov said.
"The guys did an unbelievable job of scoring there at the end of the
game."
Varlamov stopped Steen on the Blues' first attempt but it was his
second save of the shootout that helped clinch it. Right winger
Vladimir Tarasenko put a shot low that Varlamov smothered near the
goal line. The save was upheld under review, and he then stopped
right winger Troy Brouwer to end the game.
"Right now we're getting points," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock
said. "Got to take this one when it gets to a shootout on the road
with what we're dealing with. Pretty happy."
Elliott appeared to be on his way to his first shutout of the season
when MacKinnon struck. With Varlamov off for an extra skater, center
Matt Duchene sent a cross-ice pass to MacKinnon coming down the left
side, and the young center put it in the wide-open net at 19:06.
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It was his 16th of the season.
"We were fortunate to tie it up but we worked hard for it,"
MacKinnon said. "We put 41 on net; we probably should get more than
one goal. I think we're ready to break out here eventually, but it's
a big two points."
The Blues got the first goal of the game a turnover by the
Avalanche. Brouwer stole the puck when center Carl Soderberg tried
to clear the zone and he fed Steen as he got to the right circle.
Varlamov got his body on Steen's shot but it snuck through and
rolled into the net at 17:57. It was his 15th of the season.
The goal came during a time when the clock on the scoreboard froze
with 2:39 left in the second. The public address announcer called
out the time remaining at regular intervals, and the clock started
working at the start of the third period.
Soderberg appeared to atone for his turnover when he poked the puck
through the legs of Elliott to tie it at 6:16 of the third, but the
goal was waved off when the play was deemed dead by the officials.
NOTES: Colorado D Erik Johnson's return to the lineup has been
pushed back to Saturday's game at Dallas. Johnson, who has now
missed nine games with a knee injury, was hopeful to return against
St. Louis but the medical and training staffs wanted to give him one
more day. ... The Blues sent D Andre Benoit to the Chicago Wolves on
the AHL. ... Avalanche RW Blake Comeau was out of the lineup to be
with his wife, who gave birth to the couple's daughter earlier
Friday. ... The Blues play at Chicago on Sunday in their last game
before the All-Star break. St. Louis has eight days off before
playing Nashville on Feb. 2.
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