2nd period barrage propels Blues over Avalanche 3-1

ST. LOUIS — Just like the opponent’s namesake, the St. Louis Blues buried Colorado in an Avalanche of goals in the second period to win 3-1 on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Enterprise Center.

“We were relentless in our checking and then offensively after the first period, I thought we were really hard offensively,” Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said.

The Blues entered the second period down 1-0 after a goal from Colorado’s Devon Toews in the first period. Brayden Schenn tied the game on a goal at 10:45 of the second period after playing off a shot from Jordan Kyrou.

Colton Parayko scored the go-ahead goal at 14:13 after he trapped in a loose puck in front of the net.

Dylan Holloway put the finishing touches on the offensive onslaught when he redirected the puck into the net for a last-minute goal.

“It’s the best we’ve played as hard offensive hockey in a while,” Montgomery said.

Kyrou and Justin Faulk each added two assists Jordan Binnington made 27 saves for the Blues.

“I thought our sticks were really good defensively, thought we were physical,” Montgomery said. ”We separated people from the puck, and I thought our second man beat their second man to the puck, which allowed us to advance lines and gain zones.”

Between their win over Chicago entering the 4 Nations break, their shootout loss against Winnipeg on Saturday, and their win over Colorado, the Blues have gained some ground in the wild card race. At 58 points, St. Louis (26-26-6) is now only five points behind Vancouver (63) for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

”Tonight to come in, and especially in that second period, take over the game and get the win is really big for this group,” Faulk said.

St. Louis’ homestand continues on Tuesday with a showdown against Seattle.