Avalanche And Blues Clash In Win-Or-Go-Home Finale

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Pepsi Center, the regular-season finale for both teams that will ultimately determine the final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
This will be the 10th time in the last 12 years that the Avs will end the season on home ice. It's the fifth matchup of the season series and second at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche played the last three contests at St. Louis, winning the last game 4-1. Saturday' matchup is the second half of a back-to-back for the Blues, who topped the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night.
Saturday is also Fan Appreciation Night at Pepsi Center, which includes the always-anticipated "Jerseys Off Our Backs" ceremony in which Avalanche players will give their game-worn jerseys to randomly-selected fans following the contest.

Last Time Out

The Avalanche fell to the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, on Thursday at SAP Center. Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for the Avs, one of which came on Colorado's only power-play opportunity of the game. The Avalanche knotted the game at one early in the third frame, but San Jose scored two more before Colorado could answer again, ultimately enough to earn the win. Avs goaltender Jonathan Bernier finished with 33 saves.
Patrik Berglund had a hat trick to lead St. Louis to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night at United Center. The win moved the Blues into the second wild-card position entering Saturday's regular-season finale. Jaden Schwartz also scored for St. Louis and Carter Hutton made 19 saves, as the Blues outshot the Hawks 35-20.

Last Time They Met

Colorado defeated the Blues 4-1 in St. Louis on March 15, the Avs' first win in five games as the road team in the series. Mikko Rantanen led the Avs with four points (two goals and two assists) and Nathan MacKinnon (two goals and one assist) and Gabriel Landeskog (three assists) contributed three points each. The Avalanche was outshot 45-23 on the night but got a 44-save performance from Semyon Varlamov. Joel Edmundson notched the lone goal for the Blues.

What To Watch For

Playoff Berth On The Line
In one of the biggest games in recent memory at Pepsi Center, Saturday's tilt will bring a Game 7-type atmosphere in what is essentially a win-or-go-home scenario for each team.
Colorado enters the game with 93 points and 40 regulation or overtime wins (ROW, which is the first criteria in the tiebreaking procedure), while St. Louis comes in with 94 points and 41 regulation/overtime wins. To secure a playoff spot, the Avalanche must win in regulation.
An overtime win for Colorado would result with the teams tied at 95 points and tied at 41 ROW. The next tiebreaker is head-to-head, and since this is the fifth time the teams have met, the first meeting in St. Louis, where three games were played, is thrown out. So, the Avs would be 2-2-0 (4 points), while the Blues would finish 2-1-1 (5 points) and earn the final playoff spot.
Avs Penalty Kill
Colorado ranks first in the NHL in penalty killing at home (92.4 percent) this season, currently tied with the 1998-99 Boston Bruins for the NHL's best-ever home PK percentage (technically Colorado is just ahead at .92436 to Boston's .92413). Colorado has allowed only nine power-play goals in 119 short-handed situations on home ice, which would be the fewest ever allowed at home during an 80-plus game NHL season. The 1998-99 Bruins gave up 11 power-play goals at FleetCenter that year.

Players To Watch

Colorado: Left Wing Gabriel Landeskog
The Avalanche captain has tallied three points (three assists) in the four games of the season series against the Blues and has 13 points (one goal and 12 assists) in 29 career outings against St. Louis. He enters Saturday's regular-season finale third on the team in scoring with 59 points (24 goals, 35 assists) in 77 games this year.
St. Louis: Goaltender Jake Allen
The Blues sent Allen to Denver on Friday afternoon instead of having him dress in Chicago, so he would be well-rested for Saturday's contest. Allen is 0-1-0 against Colorado this season, starting the March 15 outing that the Avs won 4-1. He has a 6-4-2 career record against the Avalanche with a 2.19 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

The Details

Saturday's game between the Avs and the Blues begins at 7 p.m. MT, and there are a limited amount of tickets still available. Pepsi Center doors open at 5:30 p.m., with pregame festivities for Fan Appreciation Day beginning at 5 p.m. outside the Grand Atrium on the west side of the arena.
The game can be watched live on Altitude, and the radio broadcast can be heard on FM 92.5 The Wolf or at ColoradoAvalanche.com