St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Preview
The St. Louis Blues will play their division opponents, the Colorado Avalanche, for the second time this season on Saturday night in Denver. The Blues defeated Colorado 3-2 in a shootout on November 1, competing with a depleted lineup that was missing Paul Stastny and T.J. Oshie. Both forwards have now returned, and Saturday will mark Stastny’s first game against his former team, who he left to sign a four-year, $28 million-dollar contract with the Blues this offseason.
The Avalanche, who finished in first in the Central Division but have underwhelmed throughout the season, have struggled through December and finally won their first game of the month on Thursday, snapping a four-game losing streak while beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in a shootout. While the Avs had a brief surge in the latter half of November, things are certainly not looking too good for them right now as they near the halfway point of the season with a 10-13-6 record.
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Jake Allen will get a second straight start after being in net for a 6-3 Blues victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday. Despite the fact that Martin Brodeur was effective in wins on Saturday and Monday, the Blues seem to be genuinely committed to making sure that Allen, their proclaimed goalie of the future, stays firmly in the mix. And while a good team should be willing to pay whatever cost necessary in order to put the best possible team on the ice, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that Brodeur is getting $10,000 per standings point that the team earns with him in goal. If Allen is performing well at his $800,000 base salary, it makes it less appealing for the Blues to have to pay out $20,000 to Brodeur every time he gets a win.
Defenseman Petteri Lindbohm will be temporarily assigned to AHL Chicago, so Ian Cole will get back into the lineup against Colorado, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. There’s no news yet about who will comprise the Blues’ forward corps versus the Avs, though with Chris Porter having been the hero of Monday night’s game before sitting Thursday, it would not be too surprising to see him get a game in the lineup tonight.