Bednar credits Avalanche’s rush coverage; Montgomery faults Blues’ preparation

Jared Bednar credited Colorado’s defensive corrections after the Avalanche beat St. Louis 6–1 at Ball Arena on October 3. Jim Montgomery said the Blues had failed to apply the pressure they wanted.

“Our rush coverage was, you know, so much better,” Bednar said when asked about the changes from Colorado’s opening game.

Bednar focused his assessment on the first 40 minutes, when Colorado built a 6–0 lead. He said the Avalanche closed plays quickly in their own zone and stayed near the play instead of swinging away, allowing them to get out of the defensive end.

Colorado scored four times in the second period. Bednar said the Avalanche wanted to attack a Blues team playing its second game in two nights and praised their skating and energy.

Asked about protecting leads, Bednar credited the experience of a core that has played together for years and the conversations on the bench. He said “we don’t have to turn it into a shinny game” with a two- or three-goal advantage.

Montgomery traced St. Louis’s problems to its inconsistent aggression and failure to take away time and space. He said “it starts with our preparation mentally” and assigned that responsibility throughout the team.

Asked how he balanced criticism with the adjustment facing new players, Montgomery said the coaches had to present the facts. The Blues had not won enough battles or fulfilled their neutral-zone forechecking and tracking assignments. He saw fewer turnovers after the first-period discussion, but not the physical response he wanted.

“They still dominated time and space on us,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery acknowledged the difficulty of playing in Colorado on the second night of a back-to-back, including the altitude and travel. He said every team faces similar demands.

“That’s no, no excuse there,” he said.

Final score, statistics and game updates: Blues at Avalanche, October 3.

Source note: This report uses the complete available caption transcripts of Colorado’s Jared Bednar interview (6:20) and St. Louis’s combined postgame video (5:43). The Blues video includes Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko before Jim Montgomery. These are the available team-posted recordings; their lengths do not establish that every postgame question is included.