ST. LOUIS — Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov made his 15th consecutive appearance Thursday and he might be called upon to complete Colorado’s back-to-back stretch with travel Friday when the Nashville Predators visit the Pepsi Center.
Avs coach Jared Bednar has two options Friday against the Western Conference-leading Preds: A tired Varlamov or rookie Spencer Martin, the latter of whom is No. 4 on the organizational depth chart and has played in just three NHL games and none this season.
Colorado has two other goalies on the non-active roster but both Jonathan Bernier and Andrew Hammond haven’t been cleared from head injuries, Bednar said.
The coach said he and his staff would evaluate the situation after Thursday’s game. The Avs won’t return to Denver until early Friday morning and they won’t have a morning skate at the Pepsi Center.
Nashville also has a consecutive-night stretch, playing at Arizona on Thursday.
House of horror. The Avalanche’s recent record against the St. Louis Blues is ugly — particularly at Scottrade Center, where the playoff-contending teams collided Thursday.
The Blues entered 3-0 against Colorado this season, had won four in a row in the series and earned points in the previous 15 games (12-0-3). St. Louis was on a five-game winning streak over the Avs at Scottrade Center, where it had won 13 of the last 15 meetings (13-2-0).
“It’s just one of those buildings where it’s been tough to play in, and obviously they’ve had some good teams,” Avs defenseman Tyson Barrie said after Thursday’s morning skate. “But at this point, we’re not even thinking about that. We’re at a different point in our game, a different point in our year. We’re a different team.”
Footnotes. Goalie Nicole Hensley of Lakewood and the U.S. women’s Olympic team made the ceremonial puck drop. She starred at nearby Lindenwood University and set the all-time saves record in NCAA women’s history. … Blues defenseman Joel Edmondson returned to the lineup Thursday after missing 13 games with a broken arm — an injured he suffered by blocking a shot against the Avs on Feb. 8. … The Avs entered Thursday having produced points in eight consecutive games (5-0-3) and 10 of their previous 11 (6-1-4). They took an eight-game power-play goal streak into Scottrade Center, where they hadn’t scored with the man-advantage in the previous eight games. St. Louis had killed off 38 of its last 40 penalties at home against the Avs. “It’s a tough building to score in, so once you get the man-advantage, you really have to capitalize,” Barrie said.
NASHVILLE AT COLORADO, 7 p.m. Friday, ALT, 950 AM
Spotlight on: Viktor Arvidsson. The Predators’ leading scorer had one of two short-handed goals in Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over Winnipeg that extended Nashville’s lead in the Central Division and tied Tampa Bay for an NHL-most 100 points. Arvidsson, 24, is the gem from the 2014 draft class. He was selected in the fourth round (112 overall) but has become one of the league’s top scorers. He tied fellow Swede Filip Forsberg for a team-high 31 goals last season and currently leads the Preds with 26. The 5-foot-9 Arvidsson is in his third full NHL season.
