Finally, a reason to be enthused about watching an Avalanche game:
Tyson Jost will make his NHL debut against St. Louis on Friday at the Pepsi Center, two days after signing a three-year, entry-level contract.
Here are the GAME NOTES.
Jost, 19, was expected to center a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene, but he'll be on the third line, to start, anyway, with Matt Nieto and Rene Bourque.
J.T. Compher will center Landeskog and Duchene. Nathan MacKinnon anchors a unit with Sven Andrighetto and Mikko Rantanen.
The Avalanche's first-round pick (No. 10) in the 2016 NHL draft, Jost is being thrown "into the fire," as coach Jared Bednar put it. He's been on the ice two days in a row but hasn't yet had the benefit of a full practice session.
It's a bit much to ask, but maybe Jost can light a fire under Duchene, who has gone seven games without a point, has one goal in the past 19 games and two goals in the past 33 games.
Rantanen has scored three goals in the past four games to tie Duchene for the team lead with 17 goals. He has 35 points, two fewer than the slump-ridden Duchene. Tyson Barrie also has 35 points.
MacKinnon has 50 points with 16 goals and a team-high 34 assists.
Andrighetto has been the big surprise since his March 1 acquisition from Montreal for Andreas Martinsen. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in a four-game scoring streak, with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 13 games since the trade.
*****
While the Avalanche have lost seven consecutive games and nine of the past 10, the Blues are on a roll and can clinch their sixth consecutive trip to the playoffs with a point against the Avalanche or if Los Angeles loses at Vancouver on Friday.
The Blues are 11-1-1 in the past 13 games, allowing 19 goals in this stretch, and 18-7-1 since Mike Yeo was named coach Feb. 1.
"We've been working really hard for it," forward Patrik Berglund said after the morning skate. "We put ourselves in a really good spot after a pretty up-and-down, rollercoaster ride of a season. As of late, we've been playing great. It's a really good feeling, but we have to keep building because the playoffs are around the corner now."
The projected Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Gabriel Landeskog -- J.T. Compher -- Matt Duchene Matt Nieto -- Tyson Jost -- Rene Bourque John Mitchell -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
DEFENSE Mark Barberio -- Erik Johnson Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie Francois Beauchemin -- Anton Lindholm GOALIES Calvin Pickard Jeremy Smith