Avs Head to St. Louis to Face Blues

After returning home for one game, the Colorado Avalanche hits the road again to face off against the St. Louis Blues for the fifth time this season and the first meeting at Enterprise Center.
Colorado (29-9-4) continued its home success on Monday with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes to extend its season-long, home point streak to 13 games (12-0-1). Mikko Rantanen tallied twice and notched his sixth game-winning goal of the season--second on the squad behind Gabriel Landeskog. Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 10 games with a goal and an assist as Cale Makar (two assists) also collected a multi-point outing. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer was sharp once again, denying 35-of-37 shots to earn his 25th win of the season and tie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the league lead.

In St. Louis' last matchup on Saturday, the club defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in overtime for its third straight victory to improve to 19-16-6. Mike Hoffman registered his second two-goal night of the campaign, while Ryan O'Reilly potted the game winner in the extra frame. Vince Dunn added three assists and David Perron had a helper to record a point for the third straight game. Netminder Ville Husso made 28 saves for his seventh win of the year.
Wednesday's contest is a one-game road trip for the Avalanche as the team will return to Denver for a two-game set against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Sunday. The Avs and Blues will finish their season series with three consecutive outings in St. Louis next week from April 20-24. They were originally scheduled to play two contests at Enterprise Center in early February, but those games were rescheduled.

Avalanche at St. Louis Blues

Enterprise Center | St. Louis, Mo.
| Game Time: | 5:30 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, NBCSN (blackouts apply) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ST. LOUIS CONNECTIONS

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson was drafted No. 1 overall by St. Louis and played for Blues from 2007-2011… 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

The Avs sport a 3-1-0 mark against the Blues this season after sweeping a back-to-back set on April 2-3 at Ball Arena. Colorado beat St. Louis 3-2 in the first matchup of the consecutive-night series as Brandon Saad notched a power-play marker and Nathan MacKinnon found the back of the net twice, while also tallying on the man advantage. In the second half of the set, the Avalanche defeated St. Louis 2-1 behind Cale Makar's game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation. The Avs have registered a goal on the man advantage in three of the four contests against the Blues and own a 38.1 power-play percentage in the season matchup, the highest conversion rate on the man-up unit versus any opponent this season.
The Colorado franchise is 66-64-18 all-time against St. Louis, with a 5-4-1 record over the last 10 outings. Last season, the Avalanche visited the Blues twice and fell in both meetings, holding a 0-2-0 mark.

ROSTER REPORT

The club traveled to St. Louis on Tuesday and did not practice, so its exact lineup likely will be unknown until after morning skate. The Avs will make a change to its defensemen as Keaton Middleton was reassigned to the Colorado Eagles after suiting up in the last three games with the team. Connor Timmins and Dan Renouf were recalled to the Avalanche and newly acquired blueliner Patrik Nemeth are options to replace Middleton for Wednesday's contest. Newly acquired forward Carl Soderberg will meet the squad in St. Louis and should be available to play.

INJURY UPDATE

Bowen Byram is on the NHL's COVID-19-protocol list and is dealing with an upper-body injury as well. Logan O'Connor is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, according to Bednar and Matt Calvert (upper body) is out week-to-week. Coach Bednar also noted that defenseman Patrik Nemeth skated on Monday but is day-to-day with an upper-body injury although he could return soon. General manager Joe Sakic said on Monday that Pavel Francouz will be out the remainder of the season after having surgery on his lower-body injury and Erik Johnson (upper body) is out for the rest of the regular season but could possibly return later in the playoffs.

SCOUTING THE BLUES

After dropping seven straight games from March 22-April 5, the Blues have begun to find their form as the club has won three consecutive contests. St. Louis currently holds onto the final playoff spot in the West Division with 44 points (19-16-6), one point ahead of the fifth place Arizona Coyotes (43).
At home, the squad owns a 7-9-4 record, with a 3-1-1 mark in its last five on home ice. However, St. Louis has been successful against Colorado over the last 10 matchups at Enterprise Center as the team boasts a 9-1-0 record and has earned four straight victories.
When squaring off against the Avs this season, David Perron leads the Blues with a goal and two assists. Oskar Sundqvist has registered two goals, while Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas and Jaden Schwartz have all recorded two assists.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: BRAYDEN SCHENN

Brayden Schenn is in his fourth season with the Blues and has compiled 82 goals and 128 assists in 266 games. Since joining the club in 2017-18, Schenn leads the club in goals, assists and points (210). He also ranks first in power-play goals (25) and points on the man advantage (58) over that span. In 26 all-time matchups with the Avalanche, the forward has produced seven goals and nine assists.
This season, the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Champion has notched 12 goals and 16 assists in 41 contests, slotting in at third in goals and points (28) on the St. Louis roster. He is tied for second in tallies on the man advantage (three) and ranks tied for fourth with six power-play points.

NUMBERS GAME

2

The Avs are have had two players (Nathan MacKinnon, 52, Mikko Rantanen, 50) reach the 50-point mark so far this season, one of three teams in the NHL to have that. The club joined the Edmonton Oilers (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) and Toronto Maple Leafs (Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner) as the only squads in the league to accomplish the feat.

56

Colorado has notched 56 goals in the second period this campaign, the second-most in the NHL behind the Washington Capitals' 62 tallies in the frame. The club has scored fifteen more goals in the second stanza than the first, and six more than the third period.

300

Mikko Rantanen registered his 300th career point on Monday with two goals, becoming the fifth player from the 2015 NHL Draft class to hit the milestone (Connor McDavid, 538; Jack Eichel, 355; Mitch Marner, 344; Sebastian Aho, 301). Rantanen has collected 25 goals and 25 assists this year, ranking second in goals and seventh in points (50) in the league.

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche has won three of its last four contests on the road and owns an 11-5-2 record away from home… Colorado has potted seven empty-net markers this season, tied for the eighth most in the league… Tyson Jost has registered a point in a season-long three straight games, notching three assists over the stretch… The Avs have scored the first goal of the game a league-best 30 times this season--four more than any other team--and is 25-3-2 when lighting the lamp first, the most wins in the NHL… When heading into the third period with a lead, Colorado sports a 23-0-1 record--the most wins in the league… Since March 1, Nathan MacKinnon (12 goals, 20 assists), Mikko Rantanen (17 goals, 15 assists) and Gabriel Landeskog (12 goals, 20 assists) have each recorded 32 points, the top three scorers in the NHL during that time frame… The Avs are 2-0 on coach's challenges this year… Cale Makar has registered at least a point in six of his last seven contests (one goal, seven assists) and ranks second on the club in scoring by a defenseman with 30 points (four goals, 26 assists).