Pavel Buchnevich's third-period goal lifts Blues past Avalanche 2-1, to ninth straight win

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Mar 29, 2025

Published in Hockey

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DENVER — Someone's streak was going to end on Saturday afternoon.

The St. Louis Blues carried an eight-game win streak. The Colorado Avalanche won their previous 11 home games.

In a 2-1 Blues win over Avalanche, it was Colorado that was left to begin anew. Pavel Buchnevich scored the game-winning goal for St. Louis with 11:06 remaining in the third period.

Buchnevich pounced on a rebound at the net-front, squeezing it through Mackenzie Blackwood to give the Blues their first lead of the game. Buchnevich also retrieved the puck following Zack Bolduc's shot to keep possession for the Blues.

The nine-game win streak is the longest for the Blues since a nine-gamer in April 2022. It is two wins away from tying the franchise record 11-game win streak from January and February of 2019. The only team this season with a longer win streak than the Blues is Winnipeg (11).

Bolduc scored a power-play goal for the Blues, while Nathan MacKinnon's first period goal got the Avalanche on the board in the first period. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves for St. Louis.

With the win, the Blues momentarily pulled even with Minnesota for the first wild card in Western Conference, pending the Wild's result against New Jersey on Saturday afternoon. After Saturday, the Wild will still have one game in hand on the Blues.

Calgary — which the Blues entered Saturday leading by six points for the second wild-card spot — is in Edmonton for a game Saturday night.

The Blues will now enjoy a multi-day break between games for the first time in more than two weeks, having just finished a stretch of 10 games in 17 days. St. Louis opens a three-game homestand on Tuesday night against Detroit.

Up and down

Bolduc's power-play goal at 10:57 of the first period gave the Blues a 1-0 lead, marking just the fourth time in the last 12 home games that Colorado has allowed the first goal of the game. Bolduc capitalized on the power play by camping out in the slot and whacking a one-timer on a saucer pass from Robert Thomas.

Thomas settled the puck along the halfwall and patiently surveyed his options. He had Oskar Sundqvist at the side of the net and Pavel Buchnevich sneaking to the back post. But once Cale Makar pressured Thomas, he flipped a pass to Bolduc between at the hashmarks.

It was Bolduc's 16th goal of the season, which is third-most among NHL rookies and behind only Matvei Michkov (24) and Macklin Celebrini (21).

Colorado tied the game just 72 seconds later on MacKinnon's goal at the side of the net after a blocked shot in the slot. Justin Faulk gloved the puck initially and tried to put it on the ice but Devon Toews slapped the loose puck to MacKinnon, who roofed it past Binnington.

MacKinnon's goal came shortly after Mackenzie Blackwood made a huge save on Brayden Schenn, who was on the doorstep by himself.

The shots were even at 11 in the first period, and each team had prime chances in the opening minutes of the game. Pavel Buchnevich, back in the lineup after missing four games, had a chance in the slot just a minute into the game, set up by Thomas behind the net.

MacKinnon had a breakaway after Philip Broberg was stripped of the puck in the neutral zone. MacKinnon hit the post and Binnington covered the puck to stop play.

Tightening up

The second period quieted any momentum towards a track meet on Saturday afternoon, as the two teams combined for 10 shots on goal and struggled to find open ice to create offense.

At 5 on 5, shots were 4-3 in favor of Colorado, which put three shots on goal during a power play after Schenn was whistled for tripping in the offensive zone. Parker Kelly's deflection that hit the post was Colorado's closest chance at scoring in the period.

Through two periods, the Blues successfully limited Colorado's offensive firepower by doing what they've become accustomed to: blocking shots. In the opening 40 minutes, the Avalanche had 51 shot attempts and 21 of them were blocked.

During the previous eight games — all wins — entering Saturday's game, the Blues averaged 17.75 blocks per game.

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