One night after Calvin Pickard snapped a two-game losing streak with a 1-0 shutout of the Minnesota Wild, head coach Jared Bednar had to call on his backup to close out the game on Sunday evening after Semyon Varlamov struggled in a 5-1 loss.
Varlamov allowed all five St. Louis goals in the first two periods and Pickard posted a scoreless third period, but Colorado could not overcome the huge deficit.
Robby Fabbri, Jori Lehtera, Jaden Schwartz, Scottie Upshall and David Perron all scored, while former Avalanche defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists against his former team.
Matt Duchene scored Colorado’s only goal 6:38 into the second half to cut the St. Louis lead to 2-1 before the flood gates opened on Varlamov. St. Louis scored their final three goals in a span of under five minutes, including their last goal with less than a minute remaining in the period.
Colorado begins a four-game homestand on Tuesday against Arizona.
