BLUESThe St. Louis Blues took one of the more difficult losses of the season on Thursday, falling 5-0 to the seventh-place Arizona Coyotes at the start of a three-game road trip against division opponents.
Justin Faulk scored an early goal, though it was waved off due to goaltender interference; and
Robert Thomas exited the game in the second period due to injury
, making the tall task of a comeback in a unique and unfamilar building even greater.
"You gotta have emotion, you gotta want to win puck battles and you gotta want to play a certain way," said Craig Berube on Friday. "The last three games, we have not wanted to play that way for 60 minutes - that's the bottom line."
Berube and the Blues will be looking to come out of the gate strong as they continue the road trip, having gone four straight games without a first-period goal for the first time all season.
Heading to Colorado for a Saturay afternoon game and continuing to Winnipeg on Monday night, the Blues have two more games before 11 days off for the All-Star break - both against strong divisional opponents.
They'll head to Ball Arena in Denver with a record of 23-23-3, back at .500 for the first time since Dec. 31 and currently sixth in the Central Division.
AVALANCHEThe Colorado Avalanche are threatening to climb up the standings after an up-and-down stretch, winning six games in a row but falling to Anaheim on Thursday night. Prior to the six-game win streak, the Avs lost five out of seven from Dec. 27 to Jan. 12 - including their own losses to Arizona and Chicago.
Injuries have been the primary driver of Colorado's inconsistency as they were without star Nathan MacKinnon for 11 games in December and Cale Makar for four games last week - as well as captain Gabriel Landeskog for the season to date, among others. Both MacKinnon and Makar have returned to the lineup for Thursday's game against Anaheim, each logging an assist as the Avalanche fell 5-3.
The Avalanche were up 3-2 after the second period, but the Ducks scored three unanswered goals in the third to take the game in Denver and end the Avs' winning streak.
"We didn't play with the same urgency, intensity and physicality that we needed to in order to win the hockey game," said Head Coach Jared Bednar.
The Avalanche will host the Blues to wrap up a three-game homestand, their final game before the All-Star break. They'll enter the game with a record of 26-18-3, worth 55 points and fourth place in the Central Division.
HEAD-TO-HEADThe Blues are 1-0-1 against the Avs this season, winning in regulation at Ball Arena on Nov. 14 and falling in overtime at home on Dec. 11. The season series concludes shortly after the All-Star break at Enterprise Center on Feb. 18.
