The Colorado Avalanche were stumped on home ice against the St. Louis Blues 3–2 on Sunday night behind a Robert Thomas hat trick. It was the first hat trick of his career and brought the Blues within three points of a playoff spot.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche couldn’t muster enough opportunities to dominate the game and take control of St. Louis. They had the opportunity to clinch the Central Division and Western Conference with two points. Instead, they were stumped and will have to wait another game to get the chance.

View From the Mountaintop

This game likely ended up being much closer than Colorado fans would’ve thought it’d be. St. Louis is a ways out of the postseason but still has an outside shot. However, the Avalanche were playing on the second leg of a back-to-back, which involved travel. Hence, they weren’t at their best all evening long and sometimes were outplayed. Eventually, they were stumped by the Blues coming in. The visitors continue to keep their outside chance of making it to the postseason to face this same Avs team in the first round alive.

A pregame ceremony was held for Brent Burns to celebrate hitting 1,000 consecutive games played. He achieved it on Saturday afternoon in the shutout win over the Dallas Stars. The ceremony was a special one, and it seemingly boosted Burns. His play on Sunday night might’ve been the best he’s had in burgundy and blue. He made some nice defensive plays. The one that stood out was him doing a helicopter move on a 2-on-1, where he bailed out Nick Blankenburg’s bad pinch. In addition, he tacked on what was at the time the go-ahead goal in the second period. He’s had some rough moments recently, but this game was certainly a positive.

Colorado already played this game without Nicolas Roy and Cale Makar, both still out because of injury. However, it was revealed pre-game that Valeri Nichushkin would also be out with an upper-body injury. Zakhar Bardakov would slot in again on the fourth line. The fourth line was good again, with Parker Kelly recording his 20th goal of the season. The first line was the best line for Colorado all night and had their chances, but couldn’t muster anything up in the closing time.

Up Next

The Avs and Blues will face off again, this time underneath the arch in St. Louis. Puck drop on Tuesday night is at 6:00 p.m. MT.