The Colorado Avalanche finally achieved their regular-season goals thanks to a great performance by Valeri Nichushkin in a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. Nichushkin returned from injury and made the difference after Colorado dropped this same matchup in Denver on Sunday night.

In turn, the Blues are all but eliminated from the playoff race and won’t face this same Avs team in just a few weeks. Colorado got the job done, but not without some concerns to go over. For the record, health will now be the biggest concern down the stretch.

View From the Mountaintop

In their second attempt in two days, Colorado got the win over the Blues. It finally got the team what they were looking for: another Central Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference. Furthermore, the win locks in a guaranteed first-round matchup between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild. The Avs will still wait to see who they face in the first round as the second wild-card winner. They nearly clinched the trifecta Tuesday, but missed out on the Presidents’ Trophy thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes winning in OT against the Boston Bruins. Nonetheless, Colorado will have home-ice advantage until at least the Stanley Cup Final with their seeding.

 

The Avalanche got a couple more faces back in the lineup on Tuesday. Nicolas Roy returned after missing the last seven games and was good. But the man of the hour was Nichushkin on his return. He missed only the last game against the Blues on Sunday with an upper-body issue. He was ready in this one and did not disappoint. In his return, he made the difference with two goals. It included a goal-of-the-year candidate with a between-the-legs dangle shorthanded goal. Nichushkin was very close to getting a hat trick on a couple of occasions, but just missed out on his second hat trick against St. Louis this season.

Martin Necas recorded the other goal for the Avalanche thanks to a nice pass from Nathan MacKinnon. However, Necas suffered an injury scare when he blocked a shot with his laces early in the third period. He struggled to get off the ice but returned. The same can be said about Scott Wedgewood. Sam Malinski tripped Phillip Broberg on a rush into Wedgewood’s left leg. Wedgewood’s back then went hard into the post, and he was left writhing in pain on the ice. Somehow, he kept on playing and was a warrior with the Blues pushing late. However, the Avs did not get so lucky with Nazem Kadri. He left the game in the second period and did not return. His last shift saw him block a shot with his left hand, shaking it off for the rest of his shift before exiting.

Up Next

The Avs head home for two more games, starting on Thursday night against the Calgary Flames. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.