Slumping Blues Host Avs

Ryan O'Reilly and Zach Redmond celebrate a goal en route to a 5-0 win.

Sorry it's been a while since our last post. Holiday season has been a busy one this year.


Tonight's matchup will be between the Central Division rivals for the fourth time this season. Last game was an absolute blowout for the Avs, who can't come into this game expecting similar results. The Blues are among the leaders in the NHL for a reason, and they're going to use last game as fuel for their vengeful fires.

Colorado sent down Dennis Everberg and Calvin Pickard to Lake Erie, to give roster spots to Reto Berra and Nick Holden, the two guys who were given premature contract extensions without a second thought. Berra is probably on the last of his 9 lives at this point. Pickard has been a rookie sensation for Colorado, and Everberg has looked like a decent 3rd liner up to this point. Not much offensively, but he isn't a defensive liability, and works hard every time he's on the ice.

Lines for tonight might look something like this:

                                                         Talbot - Duchene - MacKinnon
                                                            Tanguay - Mitchell - Iginla
                                                           Landeskog - O'Reilly - Briere
                                                             McLeod - Cliche - Holden
                   
                                                                    Hejda - Johnson
                                                                     Guenin - Barrie
                                                                   Stuart - Redmond

That fourth line makes me cringe to look at. The "Monster Line" (All AHL callups) were instantly more impactful than any combo that includes McLeod and Cliche. In this day and age, teams need to get scoring from everywhere, not just the top 2 lines and Johnson/Barrie. MacKinnon just broke a 16 game goal drought when he absolutely sniped on Corey Crawford.

Duchene has been snake bitten recently, and he's been seen taking out aggression on the bench, as well as on Patty Kane's cup. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Kane sealed the deal on an empty net breakaway, and Duchene gave him a swift chop to the nards in an attempt to lift his stick. Chaos ensued.

The team is hovering right around the wildcard spot, so tonight is huge for them. It seems like the boys have regained some of that last year swagger when they were on a 6 game tear, up until the Chicago game. If we want any chance at winning tonight, we're going to need to pepper the ancient Marty Brodeur with shots and jump on the rebounds. St. Louis plays a frustratingly effective neutral zone trap, so quick, short, one-touch passes may be the only way through them.

Tonight should be interesting to see, and it should help illustrate where the Avs truly belong in this logjam of a Western Conference.

By: Brian