The Avs and Blues square off for the second time this season.
Despite a respectable effort from the Avs last night in Nashville, it was not enough to produce more than one goal against the lowly Predators. To add to the sting of the loss, The Avs had to watch both Dallas and Minnesota come out of their respective matchups with two points, as well as watch both Winnipeg and St. Louis draw points out of their contest with each other, with the Jets edging out the Blues in the shootout.
It is not an ideal way to start the homestretch for the Avs, but they get an immediate opportunity to respond tonight, as they visit St. Louis for a date with Jordan Binnington and the Blues. St. Louis is somewhat in the rearview for the Avs for now, but with three games still to be played in this seasonal matchup, and only 12 points back, there’s still a long enough tail on the Avs for the Blues to chase and catch.
A win tonight is a four-point swing in the matchup, so there’s incentive for the Avs to not only go out and catch the Stars and Wild, but to create separation from the wild card hungry teams.
It simply was not the Avs’ night in Nashville last night. While they played far from their A-game, they certainly did more than enough to deserve more than the one goal they potted past Juuse Saros on 32 shots. One lucky bounce for the Preds in the second period changed the outlook of the game, and allowed for Nashville to sit on their one-goal lead for an entire period.
While the process was good for the Avs, they’ll need more out of their complementary forwards to avoid games like Saturday. Nathan MacKinnon led the way for the Avs with eight shots on net, but despite the heavy load for MacKinnon, five forwards finished the game with zero shots on net, most notably Ross Colton, Jonathan Drouin, and Casey Mittelstadt. Additionally, Martin Necas finished the game with one shot, so there’s going to be an expectation out of these players to provide MacKinnon with some help offensively as the Avs look to find their groove offensively.
No changes are expected in the Avs lineup this afternoon. Samuel Girard took a puck to the face last night and was bleeding pretty heavily, but he still topped 21 minutes of ice time, so he should be good to go.
MacKenzie Blackwood figures to tend the crease for the Avs this afternoon. It was somewhat of a surprise to see Scott Wedgewood get the net yesterday, although it makes sense to give your starting goaltender the tougher matchup. On the season, Blackwood has a 2.53 goals against average and a 2.53 save percentage.
Projected Lineup
Artturi Lehkonen (62) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Martin Necas (88)
Jonathan Drouin (27) — Casey Mittelstadt (37) — Juuso Parssinen (16)
Miles Wood (28) — Jack Drury (18) — Ross Colton (20)
Joel Kiviranta (94) — Parker Kelly (17) — Logan O’Connor (25)
Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) — Sam Malinski (70)
Calvin De Haan (44) — Keaton Middleton (67)
MacKenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)
St. Louis Blues
As mentioned earlier, the Blues return to play saw them net a point against the Winnipeg Jets, falling in the shootout 4-3. Neither team relied on their number one goaltender in that contest, as both Jordan Binnington and Connor Hellebuyck watched from the bench after competing against each other in Thursday’s Canada-USA gold medal game.
The Blues nearly pulled out two points in regulation from last night’s contest, but a Gabe Vilardi game-tying-goal in the final minute sent the contest to extra time. The lost point is a huge one for the Blues, as every point will be important to them as they hunt down a wild card spot in the west.
On the season, the Blues boast a mediocre record of 25-26-6, and have struggled to stand out in any significant way. Both special teams units are ranked in the bottom ten of the NHL, and they struggle to score goals, only potting 2.70 goals per game. When these teams met on January 31st, the Avs rode a four-goal explosion in the opening period en route to a 5-0 victory, a game that the Avs won with relative ease.
With backup Joel Hofer drawing the start last night, Jordan Binnington is expected to start for the Blues, fresh off of backstopping Team Canada to a gold medal in the Four Nations Faceoff. Binnington was subject to criticism the entire tournament, but stole the show in Overtime of the gold medal game, keeping Canada alive with multiple spectacular saves.
In the NHL this season, Binnington has had a rough year. With a record of 15-19-4, and numbers of a 2.89 goals against average and a .897 save percentage, he has not helped the Blues much to find sustainable success, but he has the talent to get white hot as we all know.
Projected Lineup
Jake Neighbours (63) — Robert Thomas (18) — Pavel Buchnevich (89)
Dylan Holloway (81) — Brayden Schenn (10) — Jordan Kyrou (25)
Mathieu Joseph (71) — Oskar Sundqvist (70) — Zack Bolduc (76)
Alexey Toropchenko (13) — Radek Faksa (12) — Nathan Walker (26)
Cam Fowler (17) — Colton Parayko (55)
Philip Broberg (6) — Justin Faulk (72)
Ryan Suter (22) — Tyler Tucker (75)
Jordan Binnington (50)
Joel Hofer (30)