Follow @stlgoalie While the Blues schedule has been and continues to be tough from a travel perspective, the Blues have benefited from their opponents also having a tough schedule. In 3 of the last 4 games, the Blues have faced a team that played the night before. This trend continues tonight when the Blues take on the Colorado Avalanche at 7:30pm CST at the Scottrade Center (NBCSN forced the odd start time). The Avalanche helped out the Blackhawks and defeated the Predators 4-3 in Nashville last night with goals from Blake Comeau, Gabriel Landeskog, Jack Skille, and Shawn Matthais. Semyon Varlmaov stopped 32 of 35 Predator shots. The win helped keep the Avalanche’s playoff hopes alive, leaving them 3 points behind the Minnesota Wild. The Blues can be a big impediment to the Avalanche’s playoff hopes as they also play each other on Sunday but the Blues are winless against the Avalanche this season going 0-1-2. In their last meeting, the Blues couldn’t protect their 1-0 lead, giving up a last minute goal to Nathan MacKinnon and losing in the shootout.
The Avalanche have been better lately, winning 6 of their last 10. The Blues have been even better, taking 8 of their last ten and shutting out their opponents in the last 4 games. Like the Blues, the Avalanche are dealing with injuries to key players. Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon will not dress tonight due to knee injuries. It will be interesting to see if Patrick Roy goes with Varlamov tonight as he has had strong career numbers against the Blues (1.88GAA and 94.2% save percentage) or if he turns to Calvin Pickard who was very good in his only game against the Blues (92.9% save percentage). A well rested Brian Elliott will be in net for the Blues.
The Blues continue to get very strong production from the Robby Fabbri, Paul Stastny, and Troy Brouwer line. They have combined for 8 goals and 21 assists in their last 9 games. On the injury front, Alexander Steen is expected to get back into the lineup while Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson are not expected to play.
My guess for the Blues lines are as follows: Schwartz –Lehtera – Tarasenko Steen - Berglund – Backes Fabbri – Stastny -Brouwer Upshall – Brodziak – Reaves Edmundson – Pietrangelo Shattenkirk - Parayko Bortuzzo - Lindbohm Elliott
Notes from around the league: - Will St. Louisan Ben Bishop overtake Crawford for the Vezina? Bishop is 2nd in GAA, Sv% and SO. - Will Connor McDavid overtake Artemi Panarin for the Calder? - Paranin in sliding fast with only 1 goal and 5 points in his last 11 games. - The best rookie most people have never heard of may be the Hurricane’s Jacob Slavin. - Will Detroit end the longest current NHL playoff streak this season? - Big games for Detroit, Boston and the Islanders tonight. Must wins against weaker teams. - Big Central division night as the top 6 teams face each other tonight.
It’s a great day for hockey.