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On Tuesday night, the Blues won 4-3 against the Florida Panthers, winning only their 3rd one goal game of the season (even after adjusting for empty net goals). Even with those wins, they are only 3-6-4 in one goal games (adjusted for empty net goals) this season. Of course, that is the 3rd one goal victory in last 6 games, a span where they have gone 3-2-1. Unfortunately, that type of point pace, while better than most of their season, will not get them into the playoff hunt.

Of course the game had one of the weirdest plays you will ever see. Watch it here:

Here's the goal... but it's not a goal?!!!! #stlblues pic.twitter.com/0UjC3NF7NS

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 12, 2018

David Perron led the way for the Blues with two goals while Brayden Schenn had the game winning goal and an assist and Jaden Schwartz had two assists. Jay Bouwmeester struggled again, going -2 with two giveaways in 23 minutes of play. Chris Butler played his usual steady game in just under 11 minutes of ice time. Jordan Nolan only saw 5 minutes of action and is why he is still here and Jordan Kyrou was sent back to the AHL. Jake Allen, for the most part, provided another quality start.

The Blues showed good resolve to stop the Panthers momentum after the Panthers scored two goals to tie the game in the 3rd period Brayden Schenn scored the game winner. They will look to build on that momentum tonight against the Colorado Avalanche when they will be seeking only their 3rd two game winning streak all season.

The Avalanche have been very good on the road, going 11-6-2 and are 6-3-1 though they have lost two games in a row and three of their last five. The Avalanche have the 8th highest points percentage thanks in large in part to their scoring which ranks 3rd in the league and their power play which is 2nd. They are in the bottom half of the league in goal prevention and penalty killing.

The Avalanche have the two most prolific points producers in the NHL. Mikko Rantanen leads the league with 52 points in 31 games while Nathan MacKinnon is 2nd with 47 points. The combination has scored 33 goals, five of which have been game winners. Gabriel Landeskog is having a very good year as well with 38 points. Of course, the next closest forward is Carl Soderberg with 21 points.

The Blues have done a good job against Landeskog and MacKinnon, holding them below their career averages. Rantanen on the other hand has 9 points in only 11 games.

Philipp Grubauer will get the start in net as the Avalanche play tomorrow as well. Grubauer has only faced the Blue once, giving up 4 goals while stopping only 86.2% of the shots against.

Ryan O’Reilly has enjoyed success against his former club with 9 points in only 7 games. Brayden Schenn ha 11 points in 15 games while Vladimir Tarasenko has 19 in 27 games.

Jake Allen is your expected starter. Allen has struggled mightily against the Panthers, going 1-4 with only an 87.2% save percentage.

In other lineup news, Joel Edmundson is a game time decision after being out with an upper body injury (hand).

Expect the lines to start like this if Edmundson can’t go:
Steen - O'Reilly – Tarasenko
Schwartz - Schenn - Perron
Maroon - Bozak - Thomas
Nolan - Barbashev - Sundqvist
Bouwmeester - Parayko
Dunn - Bortuzzo
Butler - Schmaltz
Allen

NHL Champions for Charity
We’ve gotten some traction on the charity wager among the Central Division bloggers. More on that to come.

It’s a great day for hockey.

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