Blues lose 2-1 to Avalanche on literal last second goal

With 1:17 left in the third period, in a 1-1 tie game against the Avalanche, Alexander Steen took a hooking penalty against Andre Burakovsky. Steen’s penalty prevented a goal, but on the ensuing penalty kill, the Blues looked like the team that lost 4-0 to Chicago courtesy of special teams malfunction. It turned into a quick shooting gallery on Jordan Binnington, and I had a bad feeling:

Nazim Kadri decided to prove me right with a shot at the buzzer that may be the closest last-second goal that’s been seen for ages. With .1 left on the clock, Kadri’s shot barely crossed the goal line, robbing the Blues of a point in the round-robin tournament:

You’re not going to win a game against the Avalanche 1-0, and you’re playing with fire when you take a last second penalty against them. Overall, the Blues looked much improved over their performance against Chicago. Playoff seeding isn’t what it’s cracked up to be when you don’t know who your opponent will be and when you have no home-ice advantage, so if this loss does cost the Blues in the end of the round-robin, it still probably isn’t that big of a deal.

The team knows that they need to work on their PK, but overall their defense against Colorado was far, far better than it was against Chicago. A last second goal here doesn’t mean that the Blues are done. If you take this game as an evaluative measure, we and, more importantly, the team knows what they need to work on.

Next up, the Blues will face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.