Avalanche Closes Season-Opening Series versus Blues

The Colorado Avalanche looks to earn its first victory of the season when it hosts the St. Louis Blues on Friday for the second game in-a-row at Ball Arena.
The Avs fell 4-1 to the Blues on Wednesday to begin the campaign, the first time since 2015-16 that Colorado has dropped its opening night matchup. Andre Burakovsky scored for the Avalanche, tallying his 10th career man-advantage goal, while goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.

St. Louis received production from Oskar Sundqvist (two goals), Jordan Kyrou (one goal) and newcomer Kyle Clifford (one goal). Netminder Jordan Binnington stopped 26-of-27 shots in his first start of the campaign.
Friday's game is the second of eight matchups between the two clubs and the second of four at Ball Arena. It is also the second of a season-opening, two-game homestand for the Avs before they head out on a four-game road trip in California.

Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues

Ball Arena | Denver, Colo.
| Game Time: | 7:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox Sports-Midwest (STL), ESPN+ | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, ESPN+, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ST. LOUIS CONNECTIONS

Erik Johnson (No. 1 overall in 2006) and Ian Cole (No.18 overall in 2007) were both first-round draft picks for the Blues and both began their NHL careers in St. Louis…Avs assistant coach Ray Bennett spent 10 seasons on the Blues' coaching staff (2007-2017)… Jared Bednar was the head coach of St. Louis' then-American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria for two seasons (2010-2012)... Blues center Ryan O'Reilly was the Avs' second-round selection (No. 33 overall) in 2009 and began his career in Colorado… St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz played two seasons at Colorado College (2010-2012) and teammate Tyler Bozak skated at the University of Denver for two years (2007-2009)… Blues assistant coach Jim Montgomery spent five seasons as the University of Denver head coach (2013-2018).

HISTORY

After Wednesday's contest, the Avalanche is 63-64-18 all-time against the Blues, while sporting a 49-39-13 mark since 1995-96. Friday's contest is the fourth-straight, regular-season game between the clubs that will take place at Ball Arena, dating back to Jan. 2, 2020. The Avs are 2-1-0 versus the Blues in that stretch.
The Avalanche will visit St. Louis for a back-to-back set (third and fourth meeting of the season) on Feb. 6-7.

ROSTER REPORT

At practice on Thursday, the Avs mixed up the forward lines with Gabriel Landeskog joining Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, while Andre Burakovsky skated on the right side of Brandon Saad and Nazem Kadri. Coach Jared Bednar did not say which goaltender will start in net after Philipp Grubauer was between the pipes on Wednesday.

INJURY UPDATE

Defender Erik Johnson remains out per league protocol after testing positive for COVID-19. He could join the team as early as Saturday.

SCOUTING THE BLUES

St. Louis is expected to make a change to its personnel as Mike Hoffman is expected to be available to play after missing Wednesday's contest with work visa issues. Hoffman--who recently signed a one-year deal with the club--is expected to make his debut for the franchise. He played the last two seasons with the Florida Panthers, accumulating 129 points (65 points, 64 assists) in 151 games while leading the Panthers in power play goals in both campaigns. Sammy Blais will not be able to play in the contest after he was suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head of Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews on Wednesday.
In the opening-night contest, the Blues were led offensively by the second line of Oskar Sundqvist (two goals), Jaden Schwartz (two assist) and Robert Thomas (two assists), as the trio combined for six points. Goaltender Jordan Binnington is 4-2-0 against the Avalanche in his career.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Jaden Schwartz

St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz tallied two assists in the opening-night matchup with the Avs. In 30 appearances all time against Colorado, Schwartz has nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points which is tied for the seventh most points by any Blues player since 1995-96.
Schwartz has compiled 366 points (146 goals, 220 assists) in 521 games in his career and he is in his 11th season with St. Louis.

NUMBERS GAME

26

Nathan MacKinnon has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 30 games versus the Blues, the most of any player on the Avs.

15:47

Including playoffs, defender Conor Timmins logged a career high 15:47 of ice time in the opening-night contest.

550

Matt Calvert is expected to appear in his 550th career NHL game. Through 549 contests, the forward has recorded 200 points (95 goals, 105 assists).

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche scored a power-play goal on opening night for the sixth straight season dating back to 2015-16… The Avs have not allowed a goal on the penalty kill in three straight regular-season games. While down a man, the last goal allowed in the regular season was March 8, 2020 at San Jose… Colorado will have three days before its next game on Tuesday when the club visits the Los Angeles Kings, which is tied for the second-longest break between games this season (longest is four days).