Avalanche at Blues
The always-crowded Central Division has another contender in the surprising Colorado Avalanche, who visit the St. Louis Blues on Thursday on the heels of their 10-game winning streak coming to an end. Eight points separate Central-leading Winnipeg and sixth-place Minnesota, with St. Louis four behind the Jets and Colorado another four back of the Blues.
"The run - it's over. We have to move on,'' Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters after the second-longest winning streak in club history was stopped in Tuesday's 4-2 loss at Montreal. St. Louis defeated Ottawa 3-0 on Tuesday for its third victory in four games as Carter Hutton recorded his second shutout of the season and 10th of his career. The Blues could be bolstered Thursday by the return of Jaden Schwartz (14 goals, 35 points in 30 games), who is likely to suit up for the first time since breaking his ankle Dec. 9. St. Louis has won two straight and seven of the last eight meetings (7-0-1) after winning the first of five encounters this season 4-3 on Oct. 19 in Denver behind 38 saves by Hutton.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude 2 (Colorado), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (27-17-3): Hart Trophy contender Nathan MacKinnon (team highs of 24 goals, 60 points) scored his 99th career goal Tuesday, giving him nine goals and 11 assists in his last 11 games. Jonathan Bernier (14-8-1, 2.60 goals-against average, .920 save percentage) is expected to make his ninth consecutive start since replacing the injured Semyon Varlamov (groin) and has a .950 SP in 10 January contests. Defenseman Erik Johnson (seven goals, 21 points) has a goal and three assists during a three-game point streak and leads the team by a wide margin in ice time at 25 minutes, 46 seconds per game - sixth-most in the NHL.
ABOUT THE BLUES (29-18-3): Brayden Schenn (20 goals, team-high 49 points) seems to be excited about the prospects of his linemate Schwartz returning as he's scored in three straight games with two assists during that span. Schenn had 15 goals and 21 assists in his first 30 games with Schwartz in the lineup but tailed off dramatically prior to his recent run. Hutton (11-4-1, 1.79, .941) has outplayed presumed No. 1 Jake Allen (18-14-2, 2.73, .909) and is expected to make his fifth straight start.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis RW Vladimir Tarasenko (team-leading 21 goals) has scored four times in the last six games and has five goals and three assists in nine January contests.
2. Colorado is 9-10-2 on the road and is in a stretch when it plays six straight and 13 of 16 away from home after splitting the first two games.
3. The Blues haven't played a Central opponent since a 4-2 loss at Dallas on Dec. 29, falling to 6-4-1 in such contests while the Avalanche won at Dallas 4-1 on Jan. 13 and are 7-5-1 in the division.