Avs Edge Blues With Buzzer Beating Goal

By Richard Gonzalez

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the St. Louis Blues in a dramatic fashion by scoring the game-winning goal extremely late in the third period at the Western hub rink in, Edmonton Alberta. Extremely late meaning with only .1 second left on the clock.

The Avalanche started the game strong, outshooting the Blues 16-4 in the first period. Both teams traded power-play chances, but it would be the Blues who would score first when David Perron’s one-timer got past Philipp Grubauer to make it 1-0 at the 16:43 mark. The second period saw five total minor penalties: two by the Avalanche and three consecutively by the Blues. No goals were given up by either team in the second.

The Avalanche had a first period feel and seemed reenergized to start the third. They finally tied the game at the 5:33 mark of the third. A misplay by Ryan Graves caught Jordan Binnington off guard and he wristed a shot past him. The Blues’ Alexander Steen took a late hooking penalty to send the Avalanche on the power play for the fifth time in the game. The Avalanche peppered Binnington with consecutive shots. Nathan Mackinnon’s shot went off the post and bounced in front of Nazem Kadri. He had an open net for an easy tap in goal at the 19:59 mark. The play was reviewed and the goal counted as it just crossed the goal line before the clock hit all zeros.

Stats:

Kadri is the second player in postseason history to score a game-winning goal at the 19:59 mark. The first was Jussi Jokinen in 2009, according to the NHL Public Relations page. He also had a team-high of six shots on goal. Graves’ goal is his first career playoff goal. Gabriel Landeskog and Mackinnon each had an assist on the game-winning goal. Mackinnon also played a game-high of 23:08 minutes played. Grubauer allowed one goal on 32 shots and have a save percentage of .969.

NHL’s Three Stars of the game:

1- Grubauer

2- Kadri

3- Binnington

Analysis:

As for my personal stars, I would have to agree with the NHL’s picking. Both goalies played outstanding and Binnington was starting to look unbeatable at times. It is hard not to include Graves because, without his rush and goal, I do not think the Avalanche would have won this game. That was a huge turning point for the Avalanche. It felt at times the Avalanche made things a little easy for Binnington. They held on to the puck a little too long allowing Binnington to set up perfectly to make the save.

Grubauer saw six fewer shots but had to make more quality saves to keep the Avalanche in the game. This game was physical, well, physical for today’s NHL. The Avalanche did not let the Blues push them around and were dishing the physical play back. Cale Makar even did a little spin move to avoid an early hit by the Blues defensemen. The Avalanche were resilient in the third and that was a big determining factor in this game.

Video Game Recap: Avs Edge Blues

Next Game:

The Avalanche (away) will play the Dallas Stars (Home) on Aug. 5, 2020, at 6:30PM ET (4:30PM MT).

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August 3rd, 2020