Robert Thomas’ hat trick helps Blues beat Avs, continue playoff push

Robert Thomas completed his first career hat trick with a tiebreaking goal late in the third period to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Sunday night.

St. Louis (33-31-12, 78 points) moved within three points of Nashville for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and prevented Colorado from clinching the No. 1 seed.

Jimmy Snuggerud assisted on all three goals, Dylan Holloway added two assists and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for the Blues.

The Avalanche (50-16-10, 110 points), who remain highly likely to win the Presidents' Trophy, can clinch the West's top seed Tuesday night with a win at St. Louis or a Dallas regulation loss vs. Calgary.

With the game tied, the Blues got an odd-man rush with Holloway carrying the puck down the right side and into the Colorado zone. Thomas went to the far side of the crease and tapped in Holloway's pass with 2:50 remaining.

The Avalanche pulled goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood soon after Gabriel Landeskog's slashing penalty put them on the penalty kill for the final 1:54.

Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, Parker Kelly also scored and Blackwood turned away 25 shots for the Avalanche.

Colorado appeared to strike first when Ross Colton knocked a puck out of midair and into the net early in the first period. The goal was disallowed after St. Louis successfully challenged the play was offside.

St. Louis opened the scoring when Blackwood made a save on an initial shot but the puck went out to Snuggerud in the right circle, who fed Thomas in the slot. His wrister beat Blackwood on the short side at 12:01 of the first period.

The Avalanche leveled the score when Kelly tipped Burns' shot from the point at 15:10 of the first to become the sixth Colorado player to reach 20 goals this season.

Burns briefly gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 3:40 into the second period, but Thomas scored his second of the night 29 seconds later to even it again.