St. Louis Blues (49-20-11, third in the Central) vs. Colorado Avalanche (55-18-6, first in the Central)
Denver; Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis comes into a matchup with Colorado as winners of three consecutive games.
The Avalanche are 14-6-3 against opponents in the Central. Colorado has scored 298 goals and ranks fourth in the NHL averaging 3.8 per game. Mikko Rantanen leads the team with 36.
The Blues are 17-5-3 against the rest of their division. St. Louis has scored 302 goals and is third in the NHL averaging 3.8 goals per game. Vladimir Tarasenko leads the team with 34.
In their last meeting on Oct. 28, Colorado won 4-3. J.T. Compher scored a team-high two goals for the Avalanche in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nazem Kadri leads the Avalanche with 58 assists and has 84 points this season. Nathan MacKinnon has 10 goals and five assists over the last 10 games for Colorado.
Tarasenko leads the Blues with 34 goals and has 82 points. Pavel Buchnevich has 17 points over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 6-4-0, averaging 3.9 goals, 7.1 assists, 2.3 penalties and 4.6 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game with a .910 save percentage.
Blues: 9-0-1, averaging five goals, 9.3 assists, 2.5 penalties and five penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .913 save percentage.
INJURIES: Avalanche: Pavel Francouz: day to day (face), Devon Toews: day to day (undisclosed), Gabriel Landeskog: out (knee), Mikko Rantanen: day to day (illness), Erik Johnson: day to day (undisclosed), Ryan Murray: out (hand/wrist).
Blues: Scott Perunovich: out (wrist), Alexei Toropchenko: day to day (undisclosed), Brayden Schenn: day to day (upper body), Torey Krug: day to day (upper body).
