Ryan Johansen and Devon Toews lead Avalanche past Blues 2-1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Johansen and Devon Toews scored and the Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Friday night.
Alexander Georgiev made 28 saves for Colorado which won for the sixth time in nine games.
Robert Thomas scored and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for St. Louis, which had its three-game winning streak halted. The Blues slipped to 5-2 under interim head coach Drew Bannister.
Toews scored his fifth goal of the season on a shot from the point with 2:54 remaining to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
Cale Makar was awarded a penalty shot 7:56 into the third period after the officials ruled that Mackenzie MacEachern threw part of his broken stick at the puck. Binnington made a glove save on Makar to keep the game tied at 1.
Thomas tied the game when he skated in on a breakaway and backhanded his team-leading 14th goal of the season past Georgiev with 3:29 remaining in the first period.
It was St. Louis’ ninth short-handed goal of the season. The Blues failed to score on four power-play attempts. St. Louis has the NHL’s worst power play, having converted 11 of 103 attempts this season.
Johansen backhanded the rebound from a shot by Jonathan Drouin shot from the point past Binnington for his 11th goal of the season, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead with 4:49 remaining in the first period.
Josh Manson appeared to have scored for Colorado 6:01 into the first period, but St. Louis challenged the play for goaltender interference. Replay officials determined Kurtis MacDermid interfered with Binnington inside his crease.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: Host San Jose on Sunday night.
Blues: At Pittsburgh on Saturday night
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL