Denver, CO (My Sportsbook) - Chris Mason made 28 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and the
St. Louis Blues claimed the Western Conference's sixth seed with a 1-0 win over the
Colorado Avalanche.
Brad Boyes scored the game's only goal, as the Blues (41-31-10) finished the season on a three-game winning streak to vault into sixth place, setting up a Western Conference quarterfinal matchup with the Northwest Division-champion Canucks that starts Wednesday at 10 p.m. (et) in Vancouver.
"We wanted to win today, not just because we felt any different about playing against Vancouver or San Jose," said Blues coach Andy Murray. "It's your job as a team to go out and finish as high as you can in the standings."
Cody McCormick had a team-high five shots for the Avalanche (32-45-5), who were blanked in three of their final four games -- all losses. Andrew Raycroft stopped 16-of-17 shots in defeat.
Colorado finished with its worst record since relocating from Quebec prior to the 1995-96 season.
"We definitely wanted to finish at least on a somewhat positive note," said Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk. "I feel like we gave it everything we had, but unfortunately we were not able to score a goal at the end again. It was kind of the story of the whole year."
Boyes' slapshot from the left circle got past Raycroft for his 33rd goal of the year, putting the Blues in front six minutes into the game.
The St. Louis offense was on display in the opening period, as they were able to hold Colorado to only three shots on net. The Avs dominated the second period, but Mason was able to turn away 11 shots to keep the hosts off the board.
It was more of the same in the third, as the Avalanche were the aggressors for most of the frame. But Mason was spectacular, stopping 14 shots in the period to preserve the shutout.
Game Notes
Colorado lost 12-of-13 to finish the season and was the worst team in the Western Conference...The Blues won the season series, 3-1...St. Louis finished 18-18-5 on the road, while Colorado went 18-21-2 at home.
