DENVER • The Blues have been changing their tune in recent weeks, turning around a stagnant start and climbing the obstacle-strewn standings of the Western Conference. On Friday, they came to another foreboding place, face to face with another ghost to vanquish.
This time, the exorcism didn't take. The Avalanche and the Pepsi Center continued their hold on as Colorado came from behind to tie the Blues and win an overtime shootout 3-2.
Ryan O'Reilly, the third Colorado shooter, beat Blues netminder Jaroslav Halak, to spell the difference. All three Blues shooters - Alex Steen, T.J. Oshie and Jamie Langenbrunner - failed to score.
The Pepsi Center has had bad karma for the Blues in recent seasons. The Avalanche had won seven consecutive games from the Note until dropping the final meeting of 2010-11 last April in St. Louis.
Still, their sinister streak remains fluid in Denver, where the Avs have won five consecutive games from the visiting Blues. Since leaving Quebec for Colorado, the Avs own a 36-19-6-1 home mark against the Blues.
"We were playing great, then they got the tying goal and it turned into a little bit of a track meet," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. "We had great control of the hockey game, generating all kinds of second and third chances. But we couldn't get that goal to go up 3-1. We got caught on a long shift and didn't manage the puck very well ... and a shootout is a shootout."
For the Blues a shootout has been a goose egg so far; they 0 for three in such circumstances. The last successful trip to Colorado for the Blues came in a 1-0 victory April 12, 2009. Brad Boyes got the goal, Jay McKee got an assist and Chris Mason pitched the shutout.
Since Nov. 8, when Ken Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne behind the bench, the Blues had demonstrated a new "Hitch" in their stride. They skated through places like Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Washington and Columbus, collecting points at every stop.
They got a point in Colorado (12-13-1) as well. But the past came back to bite them, as the Avs twice rallied from one-goal deficits. Before arriving home early in the morning to play the Blackhawks tonight at Scottrade Center, the Blues (14-8-3) saw a four-game winning surge end.
In 12 games under Hitchcock, the Blues are 8-1-2 against the rest of the schedule, 0-0-1 in Colorado.
"We had a lot of good players tonight, we just couldn't extend the lead and it came back to haunt us," Hitchcock said.
The Blues got a 1-0 lead when defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored a power-play goal with 11:05 to play in the first. Both Shattenkirk and Stewart were returning to Colorado for the first time since being traded to the Blues in return for Erik Johnson and Jay McClement last February.
His third goal of the season put Shattenkirk at plus-17 since the trade. Johnson, also a defenseman, is minus-17 since and did not play against the Blues as he recovers from a groin injury.
Special teams promised to favor the Avs, who ranked third in the NHL in power-play efficiency and had 56 power-play points to 19 for the Blues coming in. But moments after killing a penalty to Roman Polak, the Blues cashed in with Shattenkirk picking a corner on netminder Semyon Varlamov.
Colorado answered about five minutes later. During sustained pressure in the Blues' end, O'Reilly set up Milan Hejduk for his ninth goal and a 1-1 tie with 6:05 remaining. Blues netminder Jaroslav Halak had little chance as Hejduk converted a pass out from behind the net. Later, Oshie directed the puck past Varlamov. But the goal was waved off immediately and a video review confirmed a kicking-motion ruling. Five minutes in, Halak made a save point blank on Matt Duchene. The Blues went the other way and, after Matt D'Agostini rang a goalpost, Patrik Berglund scored his first goal in nine games for a 2-1 lead.
Ian Cole kept the play alive, pinching deep into the corner. Stewart then got possession and threw the puck toward the front of the goal where Berglund directed it past Varlamov 5:39 into the period. It was Berglund's fifth goal of the season.
Both teams had big chances in the waning moments, but the game went to overtime. Halak made two outstanding saves as the Avs pushed. With 17 seconds remaining, Colorado's Ryan O'Byrne finally got a puck behind Halak. The red light went on and a goal was signaled. But a review showed Halak reached behind and swept the puck aside before it crossed the line.
"I was pretty sure it didn't go in," said Halak, who turned aside 33 shots. "They were celebrating, but too soon."
