GDT #42: Blues vs Avs | 6:30 pm CT | NBCSN, NHL.TV

[gaijin]

Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky
Brandon Saad -- Tyson Jost -- Joonas Donskoi
J.T. Compher -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Liam O'Brien
Devon Toews -- Samuel Girard
Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar
Jacob MacDonald -- Kyle Burroughs
Devan Dubnyk
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Jonas Johansson, Carl Soderberg
Injured: Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body), Patrik Nemeth (upper body), Logan O'Connor (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol: Bowen Byram

Blues projected lineup
Sammy Blais -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Zach Sanford -- Tyler Bozak -- Mike Hoffman
Kyle Clifford -- Ivan Barbashev -- Jordan Kyrou
Torey Krug -- Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella -- Vince Dunn
Jake Walman -- Colton Parayko
Jordan Binnington
Ville Husso
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Niko Mikkola
Injured: Robert Thomas (shoulder), Mackenzie MacEachern (upper body)

Status report

The Avalanche did not hold a morning skate after it had been determined that a player tested positive Wednesday in the latest round of COVID-19 testing. ... Soderberg could make his season debut for the Avalanche after being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. ... Dubnyk is expected to make his Avalanche debut after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks on April 10. ... The Blues held an optional morning skate and are expected to play the same lineup.

Avs player tested positive for COVID- hopefully this game still occurs. And hey, look at that- Dubnyk is expected to make his Avs debut against the Blues. That's effing fantastic. Maybe I don't want this game to occur.

[theohall]

Per NHL Radio - all the Avs have been vaccinated.

Per Jim Thomas - all the Blues have been vaccinated.

Feel pretty confident this game won't be postponed.

[Robb_K]

Dunn tips in Bozak's pass and The Blues tie it at one!!!!

[heff]

Blues get screwed out of a goal to go up 2-1, and now they're down 1-4.

[Robb_K]

Not a good period at all. The Avs adjusted to what The Blues did in The 1st, and played the whole period in The Blues' end, and not only scored often, but got power plays, and Tired The Blues out defending all the time. I hope the shorter change distance will help, but The Blues need to break out of their zone quickly, with everyone skating hard up ice to be available to receive passes and help out.

[Robb_K]

It's a goal!!! Crossed the line before the net raised. Hoffman!!!! Blues within 2!!!!

[Robb_K]

Hoffman blasts another one in!!!! Blues trail by only one!!!!

[Robb_K]

A valiant effort! Too bad they came up short. But they tried hard, and had some good chances to tie it up.

[flyingnote38]

ice must have been tilted
aves dominated the second
blues dominated the third
not sure how we didn't tie the game up -- had about 3 grade A chances after making it 4-3

[theohall]

Hoffman directly responsible for not covering Compher on the Avs 2rd goal. Yes, he had 2 goals an assist with the Blues adjusting their style of play to fit him. But it's affecting the rest of the team's ability to score. If he can't make the friggin' effort to skate in the defensive zone when he is the only one in position to cover a guy going to the net, a guy he initially had covered before he quit skating, he should be benched/demoted/scratched like Berube would do to almost any other player. He's not Brett Hull, Ovechkin or some kind of superstar to warrant this special treatment. The Blues 3 best played games of the season were when Hoffman didn't play. The season opener, 4/7 vs Vegas and 4/9 vs the Wild. The Blues, as a team, didn't have to adjust their style of play for any line in those three games to fit one player.

Why Blues fans are so focused on making Hoffman fit when they lose way more often than winning while trying to make him fit flabbergasts me. Especially when he's lazier than Chris Stewart was in the defensive zone.