BLUES VS. AVALANCHE
When: Saturday February 18 at 1pm CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Look: Bally Sports Midwest, Bally Sports App
Hear: 101 ESPN, blues app
Tickets: Online at ticketmaster.com
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues continue to look strong coming off the All-Star break after winning their third straight game on Thursday night. One game remains in the four-game homestand.
Coming out in front first, the Blues traded blows with the New Jersey Devils, the No. 1 visiting team in the NHL, until pulling away in the third period to seal the win. With Jack Hughes sidelined with injury, the Blues were able to hold fellow New Jersey stars Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton scoreless in a 4-2 win.
brayden schenn and Jordan Kyrou continued their strong homestand, each picking up their fifth and sixth points since the break as they played on a line along with Roberto Tomas.
“As a team, I think we’re doing a lot of good things in the offensive zone,” Kyrou said. “We’re checking, we’re being super aggressive and it gives us more free zone time with the puck.”
The Blues will look to make it a perfect homestand on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Colorado Avalanche before a two-game trip to Ottawa (completing a straight set) and Carolina.
The team will be without captain Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, both of whom were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night. in a deal that brought three draft picks, including a first-round pick, and two prospects to the Blues.
They will face the Avs with a 26-25-3 record, again above .500 and worth 55 points for sixth place in the Central. The Blues now trail Nashville by just one point in the standings and were six points away from a playoff spot as of Friday afternoon.
AVALANCHE The Colorado Avalanche have been looking for a move up the standings in their Stanley Cup Championship defense this season. They have seen 36 different skaters play at least one game for them, the most in the NHL while battling various injuries. Most recently, Cale Makar has missed the last four games with an upper body injury.
The Avalanche has struggled against Tampa Bay twice in the past week, falling 5-0 on the road and 4-3 in a shootout at home, giving up the season sweep to their 2022 Finals opponents.
Colorado rebounded and earned a tight victory over Minnesota on Thursday, holding on for a 3-2 win on the road. Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews led the way with two points each and Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves to beat the Wild.
Georgiev’s 22 wins this season already mark a career-high five and he is ranked No. 8 in the NHL, building on the departure of Darcy Kuemper last summer.
Saturday’s fight in St. Louis marks the second of six straight games against Western Conference opponents, continuing against Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vegas before hosting the Devils in early March.
The Avalanche will face the Blues with a 29-19-5 record, 63-point value and third place in the Central Division.
HEAD TO HEAD The Blues have an even 1-1-1 record against Colorado this season, with Saturday marking the end of the season series. In their last 10 regular season home games against Colorado, the Blues are 6-3-1.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Brayden Schenn, warming up to lead the team with three goals and six points since the All-Star break. Schenn has one goal against Colorado this season, in the Jan. 28 game at Ball Arena.
AVALANCHE Nathan MacKinnon, playing at superstar pace since missing most of December with an upper-body injury. MacKinnon’s 28 points since he returned on Dec. 31 rank him No. 2 in the NHL, including an assist against the Blues in their last meeting.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues will wear special Mardi Gras-themed warm-up jerseys before Saturday’s game… Of the Blues’ nine games in February, five will have been against Eastern Conference opponents… The Blues have nine players with at least 10 goals this season, sharing the third-most in the NHL… Since the All-Star break, jordan binnington He is 3-0-0 with a 2.99 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. his three wins share the league lead with Detroit’s Ville Husso… colton paraiko‘s next goal will be his 50th career goal, set to become the seventh defenseman in franchise history to reach the milestone.