DENVER (AP) — Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn scored 52 seconds apart in the second period and the St. Louis Blues overcame three crazy plays down the stretch to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Thursday night.
Paul Stastny added a goal and an assist to give him 601 career points. The 600-point plateau runs in Stastny family, with father Peter recording 1,239 points and uncle Anton accumulating 636.
Schwartz followed up his hat trick in a 5-2 win over Chicago on Wednesday night with another goal. He beat Jonathan Bernier with a shot while tumbling to the ice.
Blake Comeau scored an unusual goal with goaltender Carter Hutton on the ice after his defenseman crashed into him and Alexander Kerfoot scored twice, including one off a funny carom in the third period.
The Avalanche also had Mikko Rantanen’s tying goal disallowed with less than 3 minutes remaining after St. Louis challenged. The video replay showed Sven Andrighetto was offside as the Avalanche dropped their third straight.
Colorado pulled Bernier with around 1:41 left and had several quality scoring chances turned aside by Hutton.
Comeau cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the third period on an unusual play. Comeau and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo collided near the goal, with Bortuzzo falling on top of Hutton off to the side of the net. While both were on the ground, Comeau tapped his stick to call for the puck and easily scored once Colin Wilson got it to him.
St. Louis challenged the play for goaltender’s interference, but after video replay the referee ruled it a good goal.
Bortuzzo restored the two-goal lead midway through the third period. That appeared more than enough for Hutton, only to have a puck take a big hop off the boards and right to Kerfoot, who tapped it in.
Stastny tied it at 1 just 39 seconds into the second period. The goal came after defenseman Alex Pietrangelo broke up an Avalanche scoring chance. Stastny was then fed a pass, took a quick look at Vladimir Tarasenko on his left before lining a shot that clanged off the inside post.
In a television interview between periods, Stastny said that scoring his milestone points in the Mile High City was like “coming full circle.” He played nearby at the University of Denver and spent his first eight seasons in an Avalanche sweater.
“Funny how the world works like that,” Stastny said.
Colorado showed off its youth on a goal at 13:40 of the first period when 20-year-old Mikko Rantanen lined a pass to J.T Compher (22), who hit it off the pad of Hutton. Kerfoot (23) was there to guide in the rebound. The Avs boast the second-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 25.4.
NOTES: Pietrangelo finished with two assists. ... Colorado F Nail Yakupov played in his 300th career game. He was the No. 1 overall pick by Edmonton in 2012. ... Avalanche D Chris Bigras was a healthy scratch.
UP NEXT
Blues: At Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Avalanche: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.
