BLUESThe St. Louis Blues continue to look strong coming out of the All-Star break after winning their third game in a row on Thursday night. One game remains on the four-game homestand.
Getting out in front first, the Blues traded blows with the New Jersey Devils - the No. 1 road team in the NHL - until pulling away in the third period to seal the win. With Jack Hughes missing the game due to injury, the Blues were able to keep the other New Jersey stars - Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton - all scoreless in the 4-2 victory.
Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou continued their strong homestand, each adding their fifth and sixth points since the break while playing on a line together with Robert Thomas.
"As a team, I think we're doing a lot of good things in the offensive zone," said Kyrou. "We're forechecking, we're being super aggressive and it gives us more o-zone time with the puck."
The Blues will look to make it a perfect homestand on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Colorado Avalanche before a two-game trip to Ottawa (completing a back-to-back set) and Carolina.
The team will be without captain Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari - both were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night
in a deal that brought three draft picks - including a first-rounder - and two prospects to the Blues.
They'll face the Avs with a record of 26-25-3, back above .500 and worth 55 points for sixth in the Central Division. The Blues now trail Nashville by just one point the standings and were six points out of a playoff spot as of Friday afternoon.
AVALANCHEThe Colorado Avalanche have been eyeing a move up the standings in their Stanley Cup Championship defense this season. They have seen 36 different skaters play at least one game for them, the highest figure in the NHL as they battle a number of injuries. Most recently, Cale Makar has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury.
The Avalanche battled Tampa Bay twice in the last week, falling 5-0 on the road and 4-3 in a shootout at home - giving up the season sweep to their 2022 Finals opponents.
Bouncing back, Colorado earned a tight win over Minnesota on Thursday, holding on for a 3-2 win on the road. Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews led the way with two points each and Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves to beat the Wild.
Georgiev's 22 wins this season already marks a career high by five and ranks No. 8 in the NHL, stepping up in Darcy Kuemper's departure last summer.
Saturday's bout in St. Louis marks the second of six games in a row against Western Conference opponents, continuing against Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vegas before hosting the Devils at the beginning of March.
The Avalanche will face the Blues with a record of 29-19-5, worth 63 points and third place in the Central Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues have an even 1-1-1 record against Colorado this season, with Saturday marking the season series finale. In their last 10 regular-season home games against Colorado, the Blues are 6-3-1.
