Blues win in shootout after Avs rally for critical point

[April 02, 2019]  Jordan Binnington had 24 saves through overtime and three more in a shootout, and Ryan O'Reilly scored the shootout winner against his former team as the St. Louis Blues beat the visiting Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday night.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz scored regulation goals to help the Blues sweep the four-game season series from the Avalanche.

The win moved St. Louis (43-28-8, 94 points) into a tie with Nashville for second place in the Central Division, with the Blues holding the first tiebreaker with three games remaining for both teams.

Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist, Alexander Kerfoot also had a goal and Philipp Grubauer had 25 saves for the Avalanche, who earned a valuable point to increase their lead over Arizona to two points for the final wild-card spot in the West. Colorado (36-29-14) has 86 points, and both teams have three games remaining.

O'Reilly, who played his first six NHL seasons with Colorado, beat Grubauer on the Blues' second shootout attempt. Binnington made saves on Nathan MacKinnon and Landeskog, while Sven Andrighetto missed the Avalanche's third attempt.

Tarasenko gave the Blues a 2-0 lead just 14 seconds into the third period. Grubauer made a save on O'Reilly's initial shot, but O'Reilly tipped the rebound to Tarasenko, who beat Grubauer for his 31st of the season.

Landeskog, who missed three weeks with an upper-body injury, got his first goal in his second game back when he tipped in a shot from Patrik Nemeth at the point at 6:30 of the third period to make it 2-1. It was his 34th of the season.

Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz (17) scores a goal past Colorado Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer (31) during the first period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Grubauer came off for an extra skater with 2:05 remaining, and it paid off in the final minute. MacKinnon got the puck to Landeskog at the blue line, and he sent it to the front of the net. Kerfoot got a stick on it, and it bounced by Binnington to tie it at 2-2 at 19:13.

It was Kerfoot's 13th of the season.

St. Louis got the first goal of the game 7:07 into the first period when Schwartz tipped in a centering pass from Oskar Sundqvist. It was his 11th of the season.

--Field Level Media

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