Kadri’s buzzer beater spoils great game for Binnington in round robin opener

The defending Stanley Cup champions suffered a heartbreaking setback in its first game back from the long layoff.

The St. Louis Blues trailed just once in its Western Conference round robin opener in Edmonton Sunday, but that was unfortunately a Nazem Kadri goal that crossed the goal line as the game clock ticked from 1/10^th of a second to zero. That goal lifted the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 regulation win against the Blues.

The goal game at the culmination of several chances for the Avs through the final minute, the first powerplay goal for the Avalanche on five tries and completed a rally back from a 1-0 Blues’ lead heading to the final period.

Jordan Binnington was unbeatable in the Blues’ goal until Ryan Graves found an opening in the sixth minute of the third period.

David Perron slammed a one-timer home from the top of the left side faceoff circle on a Blues’ powerplay late in the opening period to give the Blues a 1-0 cushion at the break despite being outshot 16-4 in the opening period.

Binnington was nothing short of awesome in goal for the Blues, handling 36 of 38 shots while Philipp Grubauer handled 31 of 32.

Tyler Bozak led the Blues with four shots in the game, Perron, Oskar Sundqvist, Ryan O’Reilly and Alex Pietrangelo contributing three each.

Pietrangelo (21:25) was one of three defenders to log more than 20 minutes in the contest, Colton Parayko (21:59) and Justin Faulk (21:26) also carrying the load.

The heartbreaking loss drops the Blues to 0-1 with 0 points through its opening round robin match while the Avs sit at 1-0 with two points.

The other two Western Conference round robin squads, the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars are scheduled to play today (Monday, August. 3).

The loss likely removes a chance at the top seed for the opening playoff round. The Blues will get another shot on Thursday when the faceoff against the Golden Knights.