The Colorado Avalanche fell to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon by a score of 2-1. However, it was not due to a lack of trying. Minus a few plays here and there, the Avalanche played up to the Blues in what turned out to be a thrilling game up until the very end.
However—and I know that this can’t always be used as an excuse—the referees in this game completely failed Colorado several times, but specifically in the third period. It was to a point where fans were chanting “refs you suck” in the stadium. I know that it’s not an easy job to do, but it’s very mind boggling how one could miss such an obvious infraction.
In the third period, Avalanche forward Ryan Lindgren was knocked into the boards by Zach Bolduc, who was recently handed a fine for a cross-check against the Nashville Predators.
In some cases, you’re dealing with a “hockey play,” while other times, the intentions and actions of a player are completely obvious. That is exactly what happened on Saturday. There’s no place for that sort of action in hockey. In fact, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar put it perfectly:
Good answer from Bednar on the non-call in the third period when Lindgren took a hit up high. pic.twitter.com/l9OgS2X2R4
— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) March 30, 2025
Bednar is absolutely right. The play was roughing. It went uncalled. Bolduc could have easily avoided doing what he did, and since it went uncalled, I really feel like the league needs to try and put an end to these no-calls. I’m not exactly sure what the answer is to improving that aspect of the sport, but I’m sure that there are ways. It’s just a matter of the league making an effort to make the product of officiating better.
The Avalanche did a lot of good things against St. Louis. They outshot the Blues 29-27, and won 34 of 54 faceoffs or 63 percent (one of the bigger stats, in my opinion).
For me, the shot distribution was not what I would have wanted if I was Bednar. While it was an impressive outing at the end of the game with multiple shots going on net, it stinks that the Avalanche were in that position to have to scramble and try to beat the clock, which they obviously were unsuccessful at doing.
Kudos to Jordan Binnington for putting up a great fight against Colorado. In the postseason, the Avalanche have got to find ways to not allow the referees to control the momentum of a game. They need all of the shots on net as possible. It’s a simple recipe, but the directions might be tough. All they can do is control what they do and not what the referees do.
Colorado’s next game is on Monday against the Calgary Flames. It’s time to turn the page. There’s nothing more the team can do about what just happened; they just have to get over it quickly and try to get a win at Ball Arena. As of this writing, the Flames are leading 1-0 in the first period against the Edmonton Oilers. Both Calgary and Colorado will be hungry on Monday as we inch closer to the postseason.