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With a 5-4 win over the Avalanche on Saturday night at Enterprise Center, the Blues set a new franchise record with 12 straight wins, breaking a tie with the Cup-winning 2018-19 team that won 11 in a row.

Robert Thomas had three assists and an empty-net goal, and Zack Bolduc scored twice to support Jordan Binnington's 35 saves. Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours also scored for St. Louis.

The win moved the Blues (93 points with four games remaining) four points ahead of the Wild (89 points with five games remaining) for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. It also lowered their magic number to clinch to six points, pending the result of Calgary's late game vs. Vegas on Saturday night.

The Blues jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second period, and held on as Colorado scored twice in the last five minutes of the second and then pushed in the third with Nathan MacKinnon's extra-attacker goal with 2:18 remaining making it 4-3.

Thomas' empty-net goal with 30.1 seconds remaining gave the Blues a late two-goal cushion, but Sam Malinski's goal with 8.5 seconds pull the Avs back within one.

St. Louis will embark on its final road trip of the season, which begins Monday in Winnipeg.

Bolduc finds his spot

When Bolduc scored twice on Saturday night, he did so from a spot that’s become more fruitful for him: the bumper on the power play.

Including both goals on Saturday night, all of Bolduc’s six power-play goals this season have come in the slot. He has five power-play goals in March alone, and his 18 goals this season are third-most among NHL rookies.

Bolduc scored just 49 seconds into the first period, capitalizing on Joel Kiviranta’s cross-checking penalty at 31 seconds. After Neighbours and Buchnevich scored to build the Blues lead to 3-0, Bolduc’s second of the night pushed the lead to 4-0. Bolduc cradled the puck in the high slot before unleashing a wicked shot from distance to beat Mackenzie Blackwood.

Binnington comes up big

The Blues put Colorado on the power play three times in the first period, meaning Binnington saw a lot of rubber, and a lot of it from dangerous areas.

The Avalanche finished the first period with 17 shots on goal, and 12 of them came with the man-advantage. Valeri Nichushkin had a rebound chance denied by Binnington’s right pad, and moments later stopped Arturri Lehkonen’s bid from the slot. Ross Colton also had a chance in the bumper smothered by Binnington.

At even strength, Binnington had another right pad save on Lehkonen’s partial breakaway about halfway through the period. The 17 shots on goal were the most allowed in a first period by the Blues since Jan. 31 at Colorado. The Blues finished that first period down 4-0.

While the Avalanche’s power play generated much of their offense, the Blues actually held a 10-5 shot advantage at 5 on 5, and did not allow a high-danger chance, according to Natural Stat Trick. But penalties by Justin Faulk (holding), Ryan Suter (slashing) and Oskar Sundqvist (high-sticking) dulled some of the flow.

Binnington's save with about 10 1/2 minutes left in the third period on Logan O'Connor kept the Blues lead at two, and earned a whistle.

Another dish from Snuggerud

Blues rookie forward Jimmy Snuggerud picked up his second career point on a nifty primary assist to Buchnevich 61 seconds into the second period. Snuggerud got the puck in the corner after Thomas slid it down the wall, evaded a pair of Avalanche defenders to slid a backhand pass to a wide-open Buchnevich at the net-front.

After Buchnevich finished with tight stick-handling, he pointed directly at Snuggerud to recognize his pass.

Snuggerud was playing his first game on the top line with Thomas and Buchnevich, and he had his first NHL point on Thursday with an assist to Jake Neighbours in an overtime win over the Penguins.

Snuggerud, 20, played his third NHL game on Saturday after signing with the Blues last week out of the University of Minnesota.

Chase in the house

Former Blues forward and fan favorite Kelly Chase was in attendance on Saturday night, one night after hosting the second Puck Cancer celebrity and alumni charity hockey game at Centene Community Ice Center.

Chase was shown on the video board towards the end of the second period, receiving a lengthy standing ovation. Blues captain Brayden Schenn backed away from the faceoff circle to allow Chase to be recognized, and the ovation ended when Chase could be seen mouthing “That’s enough.�

Blues coach Jim Montgomery was among the Blues alumni that played in the game on Friday.

“I emphatically demonstrated to everybody why I’m a coach,� Montgomery said. “That’s how bad I was as a player last night. But I will say the event was incredible and Kelly Chase’s speech to our current players and all the alumni in the alumni dressing room was special. It made you feel special about the privilege we have and our love for him.�

The current Blues were also in attendance on Friday night.

“It was important because it’s important that we give back,� Montgomery said. “It was really important because sometimes you don’t realize the impact you have and how fortunate and lucky we are and to be grateful for the opportunities that we have.�