St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Preview
The St. Louis Blues play their last game before Christmas on Tuesday night, completing a three-game road trip and facing the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. The Blues and Avs faced off at Pepsi Center just 10 days ago, and the Blues took a 3-2 victory in overtime, relying on goals from defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk to counter former Blue Erik Johnson‘s two-goal effort before T.J. Oshie won it in OT.
We’ll see if the trend of the Blues beating the Avalanche 3-2 after regulation continues; the Note also won by the same score in a shootout in the two teams’ first meeting this year, which took place at Scottrade Center on November 1.
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The Blues are now on a two-game losing streak following a third period collapse in LA on Thursday and an overtime loss in San Jose on Saturday. It’s only the fourth time this year that the team has lost back-to-back games. Despite that, the Blues are expected to stick with the same lineup on Tuesday night, a rarity this season, as coach Ken Hitchcock has often shuffled things even after wins. That means that Jake Allen, despite suffering what could be considered a slip-up in Saturday’s loss, as he gave up the tying goal with 21 seconds left in regulation and then allowed the winner in overtime, will get another start in net.
Magnus Paajarvi and Chris Porter are expected to be the healthy scratches on Tuesday, so Dmitrij Jaskin and Joakim Lindstrom will once again get the nod among the Blues’ rotational group of forwards. The 21-year-old Jaskin, who was recalled from AHL Chicago on Wednesday, has notched a goal and an assist since his return to the NHL, though Lindstrom has been held without a point since his impressive three-assist effort on December 6 in New York.