Gabriel Landeskog scored with 16.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Avalanche a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Blues at Pepsi Center. Blues goalie Jake Allen moved from his crease to near the top of the faceoff circle in an attempt to get to a loose puck, but Avalanche forward John Mitchell beat him to it and passed to Landeskog for a slam dunk into the vacated net.
Nathan MacKinnon, who didn't have a point in the three previous games, tied the game 3-3 with 1:29 left in the third period with goalie Semyon Varlamov on the bench for a sixth skater. His shot from the left corner found its way past teammate Carl Soderberg and went into the net off Allen's skate.
The Avalanche moved within two points of the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Colorado hosts Nashville on Friday. The Blues, who opened a three-game road trip, are 0-2-2 in their past four games.
Varlamov had four saves in overtime and 35 for the game. Allen made three saves in the extra period and 29 overall.
Patrik Berglund gave the Blues a 3-1 lead 50 seconds into the second period after Nate Guenin banged the puck off the boards from a few feet away in the neutral zone. Berglund gained possession, raced down right wing and shot it past Varlamov. It was Berglund's first goal of the season in his third game since returning from shoulder surgery he had in August.
The Avalanche drew within 3-2 at 6:32 on Mikhail Grigorenko's first goal in 23 games and his first point in 10. He skated down the slot between Vladimir Tarasenko and Kevin Shattenkirk before lifting the puck over Allen's right arm.
Colorado went on back-to-back power plays midway through the period, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 35 seconds, and managed four shots on goal.
The Blues used goals by Tarasenko and David Backes 2:20 apart late in the first period to take a 2-1 lead.
Matt Duchene opened the scoring for the Avalanche at 4:48 with his 19th goal of the season. Duchene, who earlier Wednesday was selected to play in the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game, skated down right wing on a 2-on-1 with MacKinnon on the opposite side. Duchene continued to the net and shot the puck off Allen's glove. Tarasenko, also named to the All-Star Game, bulled his way past Francois Beauchemin on his way to the net to beat Varlamov from in tight at 16:42 for his 24th goal.
The Blues went ahead 2-1 with 57.4 seconds left in the period on Backes' power-play goal with Guenin in the penalty box for tripping Robby Fabbri. Tarasenko fed Backes, who wasn't touched in the slot, for a one-timer from point-blank range for his first goal in 10 games and 11th of the season. The Blues have scored a power-play goal in four consecutive games. Landeskog had gone eight games without a goal.
Blues Quotes
Ken Hitchcock: "There was a lot of good play again, but it's not being rewarded with goals. We're not closing off games. We're going through that phase where we've got to show more composure and close off games. They had a speed advantage (in overtime) and we had our chances too. You're going to get chances on both sides."David Backes: "You've got a one-goal or two-goal lead on the road, that's time to batten down the hatches. We seemed to take care of the puck less and feed their offense. Don't make any mistake, they have plenty of firepower to make us pay and they certainly did."
Avs Quotes
Gabriel Landeskog: "He hustled and he beat Allen to the puck and turned around, and I think I was yelling and screaming pretty loud. He slid it over and I was just hoping and praying that it wouldn't hop over my stick."Nathan MacKinnon: "I don't know if [Allen] was looking back door. I'll take that. Soderberg was in front and I wanted to create some havoc. I didn't expect it to go in, I just wanted to create a battle in front. It was a lucky goal for sure, but that's how goals are scored today in the NHL."
Patrick Roy: "It's going to be fun. Two points behind these guys ... when you look 10-15 games ago, we were 10 points behind. It's pretty good what our guys have been doing lately."
"After they made it 3-1, I was pretty happy with my players because they didn't give up. They were resilient. A lot of times after giving that third goal we would have played worse and worse. I thought our guys did a really good job stepping up and played better."
"[Grigorenko's] capable of doing that. He has a lot of talent, a lot of skill around the net. I'd like to see him sometimes shooting a little more, but that was an outstanding play. There's not that many players capable of making a play like he did."
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