GDT #35: Blues vs Avalanche 7:00 CT Bally Sports, 101ESPN

[theohall]

BLUES The St. Louis Blues earned their third straight win on Wednesday night, returning from the holiday break with a tough win over the then-division-leading Dallas Stars. Jake Neighbours and Marco Scandella got the Blues out to a 2-0 lead, and Joel Hofer's second strong outing in a row helped the Blues hang on for a 2-1 win.

After stopping a career-high 37 shots against the Panthers last week, Hofer once again set a career high by denying the Stars on 39 of their 40 shots on goal Wednesday night. Now with seven on the season, Buffalo's Devon Levi is the only goaltender in the NHL with as many wins this season at a younger age than 23-year-old Hofer.

"(Hofer) was great on the (penalty kill) for us early on," said Drew Bannister. "He made some key saves for us in the third... Outstanding from the beginning right to the end."

Since Bannister was named interim head coach on Dec. 12, the Blues have won five of their last six games - including three crucial divisional wins. The Blues, Predators, Coyotes and Wild are separated by just two points in the standings as of Thursday afternoon.

The Blues wrap up a three-game stay at Enterprise Center with their last home game of 2023, facing another division rival in the Colorado Avalanche. Quickly turning around, the Blues head to Pittsburgh on Saturday before four days' rest to start the New Year.

They'll host the Avs with a record of 18-15-1, worth 37 points and sixth in the Central Division.

AVALANCHE Since taking an 8-2 loss to the Blues on Nov. 11, the Colorado Avalanche have played some of the best hockey in the NHL - leading the League with 29 points and 88 goals in that span despite a 1-3-2 stretch from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9.

Nathan MacKinnon has played his best hockey of the season in this recent stretch, posting 42 points in 23 games since Nov. 11 - including an active 19-game point streak. Leading the League by a substantial margin, only Nikita Kucherov (35) and Connor McDavid (34) have more than 30 points in that span. Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichuskin and Robert Thomas are all in the Top 10 as they prepare for Friday's matchup.

The Avs are coming off a tough overtime loss at Arizona on Wednesday night, their first of a short two-game trip. Colorado got out to a 4-0 lead well into the second period, but the Coyotes battled back for the dramatic finish. MacKinnon, Makar and Rantanen each recorded two points for the Avs, while Arizona's Sean Durzi logged a point on each of the Coyotes' final four goals for the comeback win.

After visiting St. Louis for their third straight divisional game, the Avalanche return home for matchups against the Sharks and Islanders surrounding New Year's Day.

The Avs visit the Blues with a record of 21-11-3, worth 45 points and a slight margin atop the Central Division.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues are 1-1-0 in two trips to Colorado this season, falling 4-1 in the first game but rolling to an 8-2 win in the second. The season series concludes in St. Louis on March 19.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Jake Neighbours, who scored his 12th goal of the season on Wednesday against Dallas. Neighbours shares second on the team in goals with Pavel Buchnevich, and has three points in his last four games - including goals in two straight.

AVALANCHE Nathan MacKinnon, leading the Avs with 56 points this season and only trailing the NHL leader by two points. MacKinnon has 13 points in his last five games, including a four-goal, five point game against the Senators last week.

BLUE NOTES
The Blues are 5-5-1 in their last 11 games against Colorado, including five power-play goals (26.1%) in the last seven matchups

The Blues are 16-1-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the 2nd most wins in the NHL. After a 12-0-0 start, the Blues were the last remaining team to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season

Blues prospects Jimmy Snuggerud (2022 NHL Draft, No. 23 pick) and Otto Stenberg (2023 NHL Draft, No. 25 pick) both recorded hat tricks in the IIHF World Junior Championship on Thursday. They are part of a franchise-record seven Blues prospects at the U20 international tournament

Jake Neighbours' 12 goals this season shares the lead among players from his 2020 NHL Draft class

With his next game, Jordan Binnington will match Grant Fuhr at No. 4 on the all-time leaderboard for games played by a Blues goaltender, currently at 248