In Denver Friday, the St Louis Blues lost 2-1 in the skills competition with the Colorado Avalanche but the loser’s point clinched a playoff berth for the club.
“We wanted to get into the playoffs, that was goal No. 1, and we’re there now and it’s something we should be pleased about,” coach Mike Yeo said. “Now we want to make sure we’re on top of our game and we’re in a good spot when we go in. We recognize 
as a group we need to be better than tonight.”
Calvin Pickard made  27 saves to earn the win.
“It’s been tough,” Pickard said. “The last seven, eight games we’ve had good portions and we just didn’t find a way. It’s nice to finally find a way and break the losing streak.”
J.T. Compher had the regulation strike for the Avs in the middle frame.
Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon scored in the shootout for the Avs.
Ryan Reaves scored the Blues lone goal.
“I think we came out hungry for the two points and hungry for the playoffs, but once we got the lead we started coasting a little bit,” Reaves said. “When you do that against teams that are trying to show for next year, they bury you.
“It’s obviously a huge point for us getting in the playoffs. Looking back at where we were a couple months ago, I think we’ve played a lot of good hockey.”
WATCH: All Blues vs. Avalanche highlights
Jake Allen took the loss on 31 saves.
St Louis faceoff against the Nashville Predators on Sunday.
“It’ll be a fun game,” Yeo said. “I’m glad that we’re playing big, meaningful games at this time of the year. Hard games force you to be at your best and it challenges us to get better as a group. We’re happy that we got in, we’re not happy with this game and that’s the process that we’ve been trying to follow the last couple of months, that we’re trying to get better every day.”
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