Blues at Avalanche
The red-hot Colorado Avalanche look to extend their winning streak to seven and gain at least a point for the 10th consecutive game when they host the scuffling St. Louis Blues on Friday night. The Avalanche saw a three-goal lead evaporate Wednesday against Pittsburgh before pulling away for a 6-3 victory, improving to 8-0-1 in the last nine contests and closing in on the top spot in the Western Conference.
“We’re in a groove, and right now we don’t want to look behind us,” Colorado right wing Mikko Rantanen told reporters. “We want to aim for those top teams like Nashville, and Tampa Bay, and try to stay with them. It’s still early in the season, but we have to stay consistent and play good hockey, which is what we’ve done during the win streak.” Rantanen and linemate Nathan MacKinnon - the top two point-getters in the league - are sizzling again with six-game point streaks and will try to take advantage of the fading Blues, who have dropped five of the last six contests. St. Louis has picked up its production in the last three games with 13 goals, but allowed 12 combined over the last two games in losses after a 4-3 setback at Detroit on Wednesday. “We looked like we’re obviously not a confident hockey team,” Blues interim coach Craig Berube told reporters after the latest loss. “It looks like we’re waiting to lose at times.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), Altitude 2 (Colorado)
ABOUT THE BLUES (8-12-3): Center Ryan O’Reilly continues to produce during his first season in St. Louis, posting two goals and two assists in the last three games to push his team-leading total to 27 points. Vladimir Tarasenko has answered a 10-game goal drought with one in each of the last two contests while fellow forward David Perron scored three times and set up another in his past two outings. St. Louis converted twice in three opportunities on the power play Wednesday and is 3-for-6 the past two games after going 0-for-21 the previous eight contests.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (15-6-4): Rantanen boasts three goals and 10 assists during his six-game point streak to push his league-leading total to 42 points - one better than MacKinnon, who has scored six times and set up nine others during his run. The other member of the high-scoring line, captain Gabriel Landeskog, had a goal and an assist in the win over Pittsburgh and leads the team with a plus-18 rating. Forward Tyson Jost, the 10th pick in the 2016 draft, had two points in 11 games during October and boasts three goals to go along with five assists in 10 November contests.
OVERTIME
1. Blues RW Nikita Soshnikov, who has not recorded a point in five games this season, was placed on waivers Thursday.
2. Colorado D Tyson Barrie (three goals, 20 points) could miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury.
3. St. Louis is 30-of-35 on the penalty kill in the last 12 games and the Avalanche are 12-for-25 on the power play over the past nine contests.