NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, March 21st - Page Three
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St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche
| St. Louis Blues | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Jake Allen |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-28-5 | 20-48-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.76 | 2.70 | 22.70% | 84.40% | Team Stats | 1.91 | 3.29 | 12.90% | 77.90% |
On paper this one looks like the Blues should run away with this one but we all know what happens when things look great on paper. St Louis has won seven of their last 10 games and are poised to slip into the playoffs in the Western Conference. Their 81 points has them tied with Nashville for the third spot in the Central Division with Los Angeles being their only threat with 75 points if Nashville were to pass them in the standings. Vladimir Tarasenko looks like he is out of his slump as he has garnered seven of his team leading 63 points over the last seven games. Paul Stastny and Jaden Schwartz complete the top line that also doubles as the team’s top power play unit. I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw them in a lot of cash games tonight as Colorado is absolutely dreadful. Alexander Steen makes for a decent one-off play here as he steps up from the second line to join the top line when the Blues draw a penalty. With two goals and four assists over the last seven games Steen has taken over the team lead in assists with 31 of them. Patrik Berglund and David Perron can be stacked with Steen to create a decent GPP line tonight. Alex Pietrangelo has done a fabulous job picking up the slack on the back end. So much so that he leads the team with eight points over the last three weeks. Look for the Blues to score early and often here, even if they aren’t playing at home.
Colorado, Colorado, Colorado. That’s about all I can say after watching them go into complete meltdown mode against Chicago over the weekend. It’s going to be tough to get back up on the horse considering all you have in the stable is ponies. Nathan MacKinnon leads the team with 45 points while skating on the top line with Mikko Rantanen and Sven Andrighetto while Matt Duchene centers Gabriel Landeskog and Rene Bourque. Duchene leads the team with 17 goals as his 37 points are second on the team. Meanwhile on the back line, Tyson Barrie has managed to light the lamp six times and assist on 27 other goals for 33 points. Barrie has also registered seven points over the last 11 games while no other Avalanche player has notched more than five points over that same time frame. It’s best to stay away here.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
COL: None
Secondary Plays
STL: Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, Paul Stastny
CIL; Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie, Matt Duchene