ST. LOUIS, April 7 (UPI) -- Backup Fred Brathwaite allowed two soft goals in the second period, one on a blast from just beyond center ice by rookie Riku Hahl, before being yanked by Coach Joel Quenneville as
the St. Louis Blues were beaten by the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2.
Joe Sakic assisted on two of three second-period goals and added an empty-netter for the Avalanche, who moved one point ahead of
idle San Jose in the race for the second seed in the Western Conference. Colorado has 96 points with three games to play, one fewer than the Sharks.
Without their starting goaltender and star
defenseman Chris Pronger, who finished served a two-game suspension for a cross-checking incident, the Blues remained just one point ahead of Phoenix for the sixth playoff spot.
Brathwaite's breakdown in the second period was especially frustrating for Quenneville, who made the switch to Austrian rookie Reinhard Divis after a power-play goal by defenseman Greg de Vries with 6:06 left gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead.
Rookie Radim Vrbata ignited the three-goal outburst when he was sprung on a semi-breakaway by Alex Tanguay, faked backhand to forehand and lifted the puck over Brathwaite's right pad, tying it at 1-1 at 4:53.
Although Brathwaite could not have been blamed for that goal, he easily could have been faulted for the next two.
St. Louis appeared deflated when Hahl blasted a shot from beyond center ice on a line change and the puck trickled through Brathwaite's pads and over the goal line with 10:52 remaining.
De Vries increased the lead to 3-1 when he fired a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat Brathwaite to the short side.
Divis' NHL debut was not a challenging one as he faced just four shots the rest of the way, including one in the third period.
Defenseman Al MacInnis scored with 3:35 left in regulation to get the Blues to within 3-2, but was stopped from the left circle by backup goalie David Aebischer with nine seconds remaining.
