ST. LOUIS, MO. — The Avalanche concludes a consecutive-night road trip against a team that hasn’t played since Saturday, when it set a franchise record for consecutive shutout wins (four). The St. Louis Blues are red-hot, and fighting with the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference’s top playoff seed. The NHL modern-day shutout record is five, set by the Phoenix Coyotes Dec. 31, 2003 to Jan. 9, 2004.
Two hours before the game, I asked Avs coach Patrick Roy about the “heck of a challenge.” He said: “There all a heck of a challenge in our conference, especially in our division. They’re all good games, good teams. Everybody has times in the year, the schedule, where the other team is waiting. Tonight, it’s them. Let’s not find excuses. Let’s play the game.”
The Avs-Blues game starts 30 minutes after the Blackhawks-Wild game in St. Paul, Minn. An Avalanche win and Wild loss would get Colorado to within a point of Minnesota for the final WC playoff spot.
Patrick Roy: ‘There’s a chance MacKinnon might skate tomorrow.’ Duchene resumed skating Sunday. Both knee injuries.
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Here’s the .
No lineup changes and Semyon Varlamov stays in net.
