NHL Playoffs: David Byron and the Blues inflict first playoff loss to avalanche

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DENVER – David Perron inserted the needle twice to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night in Game Two of their series.

Peron, who had not scored in his last three games, scored the eventual winner in a strong game late in the second half and a lockout goal midway through the third.

Quebec has seven goals and 11 points in eight games since the start of the playoffs.

A 1-1 tie is now established in this second round series. Next game is on Saturday in St. Louis.

Jordan Kerro and Brandon Saad, in an empty net, also moved the ropes as Pavel Bukhnevich combined two assists for the Blues.

Jordan Bennington once again put in a great performance in the net for his team, stopping 30 balls. He’s won four of his five starts since his coach, Craig Beerup, decided to trust him for the series against Wild.

Gabriel Landskog used the power game to restore hope to the avalanche in the third game, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Colorado Forces’ first loss since the start of the playoffs.

Darcy Comber gave up three times on 31 shots and seemed to blame himself for Perron’s two goals.

After losing 13-0 in overtime on Tuesday, the Blues regained their composure with a strong first period. However, there was no goal.

“We forced them to defend a lot more than in the first match,” Peron said after the match. We slowed them down with a forward check and physical play in the first two stints. They put pressure on us at 3 and Bennington stuck out for us. It was a great victory. »

“We were much better organized,” coach Craig Biroby added. The players knew they weren’t playing well enough in the first game and responded throughout the year when making adjustments. It’s a good team, I knew it would be like that again tonight. »

Kiro opened the scoring at 5:45 of the second half. Skating on the right wing, the 24-year-old striker fired a shot that hit the stick of Avalanche defender Samuel Gerrard. The disc had a stray trajectory and beat Kuemper on the gauntlet.

Indiscipline cost the home team dearly at the end of the second half. While Devon Toews and Valeri Nichushkin were in the penalty area, Perron fired a one-time save that hit Josh Manson’s stick before overcoming Kuemper’s vigil.

“They were so much better [que dans le premier match] And we were less good, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar summed up. Especially at the beginning of the game we weren’t skating well with the disc while in the first game we were constantly moving as soon as we touched the disc. The Blues did a good job in the neutral zone, but they were made easier by standing still. »

Avalanche responded because they also played with an extra man. Landeskog tried to pass the puck to Nazim Kadri into the net, but the object hit the right leg of defender Justin Falk before returning to the blade of Landeskog’s baton. The captain was able to get past Bennington’s imp, who had abdicated.

The Blues hit their opponents hard at 10:31 of the last period. Andrei Burakovsky and Kal Makar missed synchronization on the blue line and Peron took the opportunity to climb two-on-one with Pavel Bukhnevich. The shot hit Kuemper’s glove wrist before slipping behind the red line.

“Our streak (Perron, Buchnevich and Ryan O’Reilly, editor’s note) played well and I think we can play better, which is a good sign when we play a good game, Perron mentioned. It was exciting to play with Buchnevich. I didn’t have the opportunity to do that. A lot, but I’ve seen a lot of his assists yield goals this year. It was nice to be on the rink with him.”