Let's Go Blues

BLUES The St. Louis Blues have kept up their scorching pace through their road trip, totalling 14 goals in three games for a perfect 3-0-0 record as they look forward to a challenge against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

While Saturday's win over the Arizona Coyotes needed an extra 30 seconds to close out, on Sunday the Blues' franchise-record point streak extended to 16 games with a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks (14-0-2).

In the final game of Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf's storied career, the Blues faced a 2-0 deficit in the second period, despite a wide shot differential in their favor. Jordan Kyrou broke the seal with his 26th goal of the year, and the Blues didn't look back with six goals to put the game away.

Despite his point streak ending at 12 games in Arizona, Pavel Buchnevich got right back to work on Sunday with a goal and an assist. Robert Thomas kept his historic run alive, assisting on a Vladimir Tarasenko goal that extended their point streaks to 17 and 10 games, respectively.

The Blues continue to battle with Minnesota for home-ice advantage in their first round Playoff matchup, both teams playing some of the best hockey in the NHL. At 9-0-1, the Blues have the League's best record over their last 10 games, with Minnesota's 8-0-2 at a close third.

Wrapping up their final road trip of the regular season, the Blues point streak faces its biggest challenge yet in Colorado. With a chance to preview a potential second round Playoff opponent, the Blues bring a record of 49-20-11 and 109 points to Denver for Tuesday's battle.

AVALANCHE While the Colorado Avalanche have been a dominant force all season, they have seen better days than how their last week has gone. For the first time all season, the Avs have dropped four games in a row, including losses against the Playoff-eliminated Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets.

Injury absences have been difficult to deal with all season for Colorado, yet they continued to collect wins and played as the NHL's top-ranked team until their recent skid.

On Sunday, they gave up four unanswered goals in the third period to fall in Winnipeg.

"Our work's cut out for us here to get our guys back to playing our game, getting back to our identity," said Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar. "Starts with the work, the competitiveness, and moves on to execution, details - the whole gamut now. We've seen it all over the last four games."

Despite the slide, Colorado is by no means an opponent to take lightly. Their offensive firepower is still unparalleled, seeing four different skaters eclipse 80 points on the season.

The team's leading point scorer, Mikko Rantanen, has missed three consecutive games due to illness but is currently at a career-high 91 points in his sixth full season in Colorado.

The Avalanche will need to balance between making sure their players are healthy and rested and righting the ship of this four-game slide over their final three games, meeting Nashville and Minnesota to wrap up their regular season.

Still in contention for the President's Trophy, the Avs bring a record of 55-18-6 to their matchup with the Blues, worth 116 points and first place in the Central Division and Western Conference.

HEAD-TO-HEAD Each team won on the road in two games between the clubs this season, though they haven't faced off since the Blues fell 4-3 at home on Oct. 28.

In their last four regular-season matchups with Colorado, the Blues are 3-1-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES On Sunday, Robert Thomas matched the League's longest point streak this season at 17 games, scoring eight goals and 21 assists in the process. Thomas's 77 points this season have nearly doubled his previous best, and he is the eighth Blues player to reach 20 goals on the season.

AVALANCHE Cale Makar is currently second in the League in points by a defenseman with 85 on the season, leading all skaters in total goals on-ice for as well. The 23-year-old defensman has 27 goals and 58 assists to make his case for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman.

BLUE NOTES
Justin Faulk is set to dress in his 200th game as a Blue on Tuesday... Ville Husso improved to 9-0-2 in his last 11 appearances on Sunday, recording a .920 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average... Vladimir Tarasenko was announced as a nominee for the Masterson Trophy on Monday... Buchnevich scored his 30th goal of the season on Sunday, giving the Blues two 30-goal scorers (along with Tarasenko) in the same season for the first time since 2008-09... Reaching 109 points on the season, the Blues have now tied their third highest point total in franchise history, reaching 114 in 1999-00 and 111 in 2013-14.

A week ago the Colorado Avalanche were riding a nine-game winning streak and looking at reaching 60 wins and another President's Trophy. Now they're just hoping to find something positive heading into the final three games of the regular season.

Colorado (55-18-6, 116 points) has secured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but since clinching home ice through the first three rounds things have gone in the wrong direction. The Avalanche can turn things around when they host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

St. Louis (49-20-11, 109 points) is in a battle with Minnesota for second place in the Central Division and home-ice advantage in the first-round series between the teams. The Blues have won three straight, are 14-0-2 since March 26 and are peaking at the right time.

It is a similar situation to 2019 when St. Louis went from one of the worst teams in January to Stanley Cup champions five months later. The Blues need some help to overcome the Wild in the standings; Minnesota also has 109 points and has played one fewer game.

Starting the postseason on the road or at home might not matter with how the top line for St. Louis is playing. The trio of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko has combined for 30 goals and 49 assists during the team's 16-game point streak.

"To see them consistently playing together, it's no secret what they're doing," teammate Torey Krug said. "And it's very hard to defend. You have (Tarasenko) in there; he can score with the best of them in the NHL.

"It's a scary line. ... They can beat you so many different ways. Robert is an unbelievable skater. Gifted with his vision, his passing ability."

Colorado also has some scary combinations for teams to stop, but lately it has been injuries, scheduled rest and a little complacency that has contributed to a season-high four-game losing streak. The Avalanche haven't had their whole optimal lineup all season and coach Jared Bednar has opted to sit some players for rest or to heal up nagging injuries.

Leading scorer Mikko Rantanen didn't play on the road trip due to a non-COVID illness and Devon Toews, half of the top defensive pairing, stayed home for the three games.

While the losses don't impact the seeding, Bednar wasn't happy after Sunday night's 4-1 loss at Winnipeg and wants the team to get back to what made it successful for the first 75 games.

"Our work is cut out for us here to get our guys back to playing our game, getting back to our identity," Bednar said. "Starts with the work, the competitiveness. Moves on to execution, details, the whole gamut -- we've seen it all (go away) over the last four games."

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog may get into one or more of the final three games. He had knee surgery five weeks ago and has not played since March 10. He has been skating but has not been cleared to play as of yet.