Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the St. Louis Blues (21-9-3, 45 points) and Colorado Avalanche (12-13-8, 32 points) take the ice for the third of five meetings this season live from the Pepsi Center in Colorado. The game can be live streamed for free here. St. Louis fans can hear all of the action on KMOX 1120 while Colorado fans can do the same on AM 950.
St. Louis has lost two straight games, but owns the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Central Division entering tonight while Colorado has won two straight games and is nine points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The last two games these teams have played have gone past regulation with the Blues picking up 3-2 victories in a shootout and overtime.
The Blues are coming off of a disheartening 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks in overtime on Saturday that saw the Sharks tie the game with 20.6 seconds left in regulation and then net the game-winner in the extra frame.
"The goal against to tie the game is heartbreaking," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, according to NHL.com. "We got beat on the boards. The last two games have been disappointing from the checking standpoint."
The Blues have been paced offensively by Vladimir Tarasenko, who ranks tied for second in the NHL with 20 goals and sits alone in fourth with a plus-18 rating while leading St. Louis with 37 points.
Kevin Shattenkirk is second on the Blues with 28 points off of five tallies and 23 helpers while Jaden Schwartz has found the twine 11 times and added 16 assists for 27 points.
The Avalanche are coming off of a 2-1 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday and are happy with their play on the defensive side of things.
"Defensively, even if we gave up 30 shots, it was back-to-back games," coach Patrick Roy told NHL.com. "I thought, under the circumstances, we performed pretty well."
Alex Tanguay has led the Avalanche with 22 points off of 11 goals and 11 assists while Jarome Iginla (seven markers, 14 helpers) and Tyson Barrie (three goals, 18 assists) each have 21 points.
Semyon Varlamov may be ready to return between the pipes for Colorado after missing time with a groin injury and he is 4-6-5 this season with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
St. Louis is likely to respond with Jake Allen and he is 11-3-2 with a 2.49 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Two Central Division rivals clash when the lights come up on the Blues and Avalanche live tonight from the Pepsi Center in Colorado.
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