Preview: St Louis Blues (23-24-4) try to get back to .500 against their nemesis the Colorado Avalanche (29-21-2) as they start a two-game road trip. The Blues are coming off a 3-game losing streak and are tied for 5th in the Central Division, needing to get back on track against the 4th place Avalanche…whom they trail by 10 points…and face Colorado for the first time this season…first of 4.
Alexandre Texier checks back in on the line with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. Oskar Sundqvist sits with Mathieu Joseph and Alexey Toropchenko will have Nathan Walker getting a chance to center the 4th line. Radek Faksa will be with Jake Neighbours and Zach Bolduc. Colton Parayko is out with an illness and Mathew Kessel is up from Springfield and in the lineup paired with Ryan Suter. For Colorado, Martin Necas (2 goals & 2 assists against the Blues earlier vs Carolina) and Jack Drury each will make their home debut with the Avalanche after being acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24. Joel Hofer gets the start in net, his first against the Avs…Colorado starts Mackenzie Blackwood.
Colorado has a 4-spot on the board in period 1…
5 minutes in…A fast-paced start to the game…the Blues had two shots, and the Avalanche scored on their fifth shot on a bouncing puck that popped out from behind the net and swatted out of mid-air…Hofer had no chance. 15:03 left…1-0 Avs…not the start the Blues needed.
And on their ninth shot, the previously mentioned Necas smokes a wrist shot from the slot past Hofer…2-0 and we are less than eight minutes in…poor neutral ice coverage by the Blues…meanwhile the Blues are still stuck with two shots…
With 5:59 left Robert Thomas takes a hooking penalty…Colorado ranked 19th on the powerplay but quickly made it 3-0 with 5:17 left on their 17th shot.
Brayden Schenn takes a roughing penalty with just over three minutes left…and it’s 4-0 at 2:35. two for two on the PP for the Avalanche with three shots.
The Avalanche finished with 21 shots on goal…6 for the Blues…and an embarrassing 4-goal period against them. The most shots the Blues have given up in the first period this season.
Blues hold serve in period 2…
The Blues finally get a powerplay 3:08 into the period…they rank 25th in the NHL on the PP…4 for their last 17…two shots, no goals…0/1.
Not much was happening…until 44 seconds left Texier takes a high sticking penalty…need to shut them down..and they kill the 44 seconds which will carry over.
Shots on goal…30 to 14 in favor of the Avalanche. Blues hold them scoreless…4-0.
Avalanche piled on in the third...
The Blues killed off the balance of the penalty and had two scoring chances on odd-man breaks…2-on-1 and 3-on-1 while shorthanded…unable to capitalize though. 0/1.
Back to the powerplay with 12:01 left in the third period for the Blues…two shots…no goals…
Mathieu Joseph takes a tripping penalty with 9:40 left…back to the penalty kill…the Avs get one shot…no goals… remain 4-0.
With 6:39 left poor coverage and a fumbled play off a faceoff…Hofer is screened on a shot from the slot and it’s 5-0…their 35th shot.
5 minutes!! Can the Blues break up the shutout? Nope…game ends 5-0 and they’ve been shut out twice in the last week...shots in favor of the Avalanche 36 to 19.
Blues lose their 4th in a row…a low point for the season…and head to Utah where they lost 2 weeks ago.
Notes: Why does Buchnevich always pass into traffic when he has clear ice? Blues played physical with 37 hits to 16. Ryan Suter is now 23rd all-time in games played.