Following a disappointing 2-1 loss against the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar sent out a firm statement to the dressing room, remarking Martin Necas' costly error.

Coming into Saturday’s matchup with the St. Louis Blues, there may not have been two hotter teams in the league. The Colorado Avalanche had won 12 of their last 14 games, while the Blues had won their last eight games in a quest to earn a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

DENVER -- Pavel Buchnevich scored the go-ahead goal at 8:54 of the third period, and the St. Louis Blues won their ninth straight game, 2-1 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Saturday.

After a flurry of trades remade nearly half his roster and significantly improved his club’s depth, Bednar has more in common with Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. The Colorado Avalanche coach has moved on from survival mode but faces a new challenge — trying to make all the pieces of the puzzle fit in time to chase the coveted treasure.

After a commanding 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar sent an honest, stern message to Nathan MacKinnon and the rest of the players.

The Avalanche lost 2-1 to the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena on Saturday. Nathan MacKinnon scored on one of Colorado's 29 shots on goal while Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves in net for the Avalanche. St. Louis opened the scoring on the power play with a goal from Zack Bolduc at 10:57 of the first period via a one-timer.

The Colorado Avalanche were climbing in the standings, but their momentum was stopped Saturday by a team fighting to secure a playoff spot.

To borrow from a famous phrase, it is better to have played together for a few days and lost than to have never played together at all.

But the newfound depth has been important when the Avalanche doesn’t have its ‘A’ game, and the points keep piling up because of it. That was the case in Calgary, when the Avs won despite no points from Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar.