Blues at Avalanche preview

BLUES (5-2-0) at AVALANCHE (4-3-0)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-MW, NHL.TV

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier will start for the Avalanche, who will attempt to end a two-game losing streak. Colorado will attempt to improve to 3-0-0 at home.

Players to watch

Blues forward Jaden Schwartz had a hat trick against the Blackhawks and is tied for third in NHL scoring with 11 points (five goals, six assists), one point behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (eight goals, four assists) and Lightning center Steven Stamkos (two goals, 10 assists). Schwartz has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 17 career games against Colorado.
Avalanche rookie Tyson Jost will move from third-line center to left wing on the first line with center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Mikko Rantanen. Jost played 15 minutes and had one shot on goal in a 4-1 loss at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday after missing two games with a knee injury.

They said it

"I think if you would have asked us if we'd be 5-2 after seven games, we would have taken it. No-brainer. We've had some really good spurts, we've had some bad spurts, but I think overall we've got to be pleased." -- Blues goaltender Jake Allen
"You certainly don't want that to linger. There's got to be a little sense of urgency coming here to stop it so we don't let it get away from us." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on Colorado's two-game losing streak

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Paul Stastny -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Sammy Blais
Magnus Paajarvi -- Ivan Barbashev -- Vladimir Sobotka
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Carter Hutton
Jake Allen
Scratched: Nate Prosser, Oskar Sundqvist, Chris Thorburn
Injured: Patrik Berglund (shoulder), Jay Bouwmeester (ankle), Zach Sanford (shoulder)

Avalanche projected lineup

Tyson Jost -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Sven Andrighetto -- Matt Duchene -- Nail Yakupov
Gabriel Landeskog -- Alex Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher
Colin Wilson -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Mark Barberio -- Anton Lindholm
Jonathan Bernier
Semyon Varlamov
Scratched:Chris Bigras, Andrei Mironov, Matt Nieto
Injured: Sergei Boikov (shoulder)

Status report

Hutton could start for St. Louis. He started the second game in the Blues' previous back-to-back set Oct. 10 and had 32 saves in a 3-1 win against the New York Rangers. ... St. Louis did not conduct a morning skate. … Nemeth will play after missing one game because of a shoulder injury.

Stat pack

The Blues have killed 30 of 31 penalties against the Avalanche in their past 12 games ... The Avalanche are 5-for-35 on power plays, 24th in the League at 14.3 percent.