Blues head home with split after regrouping

DENVER There is hope for the St. Louis Blues after all.

They were outshot by about a million to one in Game 1 as the Colorado Avalanche put on a dazzling display of speed and skating. But in the playoffs, what happens in one game frequently has no bearing on what happens in the next one. And somehow, the Blues found a way to escape the Mile High City with a 4-1 victory Thursday, tying their bestof-seven second-round series at one game apiece.

Like round one, when the Blues split their first two games in St. Paul against the Minnesota Wild, they have negated Colorado’s home-ice advantage. The next two are in St. Louis, Saturday and Monday.

After his team managed only two goals and was outshot 54-25 in the Game 1 overtime loss, coach Craig Berube changed all three of his top lines. It was a bold move because two of the three had not opened a game together all season. But it worked. He also stuck with the unorthodox lineup of 11 forwards and seven defencemen.

Goalie Jordan Binnington, meanwhile, improved to 9-2-0 since being yanked in an early April contest in Edmonton. Entering Thursday, the Blues had lost six straight postseason games to the Avalanche.

“That’s the playoffs right there for you — big roller-coaster,” Blues forward David Perron said.