The St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche shared something in common ahead of their Sunday night matchup in Denver -- they both are coming off losses at Winnipeg.
For the Avalanche (17-43-3), losing 6-1 to the Jets on Saturday night doesn't mean much in the standings, but the Blues' setback hurt their fight for a spot in the postseason.
St. Louis has now lost five straight games and was a point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
It's a tough position to be in for a team that started the season with hopes of a deep playoff run but has changed coaches and shipped off a top blue-liner before the trading deadline.
The deal that sent Kevin Shattenkirk to Washington wasn't a white flag, the Blues insist.
"We've got to rise to the moment," Blues coach Mike Yeo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before Friday's 3-0 loss to the Jets. "I'm not inside the locker room, but my hunch is that they're saying that this is their season right now."
The Blues (31-27-5) were riding high after a five-game winning streak in February, the first four of which came on the road. But three one-goal losses highlighted the recent slide.
St. Louis can start to turn things around at Colorado, where the Avalanche have struggled all season.
Add to the fact that they played Saturday night in Winnipeg and are playing their first home game since trading icon Jarome Iginla to Los Angeles and St. Louis is facing a struggling team playing out the string.
General manager Joe Sakic didn't trade any of the team's core players, although there was interest in Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. The fact that they could still be dealt in the offseason could weigh on their minds -- and the rest of the team -- in the final month of the season.
"I've always said they're good hockey players, but does it mean I'm not going to try to help our team long term?" Sakic told The Denver Post. "No. I'll do anything that's going to make sense for us, that we feel is going to help us for the future."
The immediate future is an attempt to reach 10 wins in an arena where the Avalanche used to play dominant hockey. Colorado is 8-20-2 at Pepsi Center, and every team it hosts in its final 11 home games is fighting for playoff positioning or just to make the playoffs.
The Blues are up first, and they are hungry for a win.
"We need to realize that we need to be desperate," backup goaltender Carter Hutton told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch after making 37 saves against Winnipeg on Friday night. "We're not in the playoffs right now and we're falling behind here, five in a row now. It's unacceptable at this time of year and any time of year, so we need to be better, that's for sure."
St. Louis would like to get back to the way it was playing in early February when it outscored teams 18-6 during a five-game span.
That was followed with scoring just six goals in the next five games, including the shutout loss at Winnipeg on Friday.
"To be honest, it's been the story the past couple of weeks here, we're scoring one goal, two goals," Alex Pietrangelo told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We're giving up one or two and we're losing games. We've got to find a way in these close games, we've got to find a way to score some goals. We've just got to get more pucks on net."
Blues • The Blues will look to snap their five-game losing streak in Colorado, where they will play for the first time this season. The Blues beat the Avalanche 5-1 on Nov. 6 in St. Louis. ... The Blues’ penalty-killing started off solid under Mike Yeo, but the unit has given up one power-play goal in four of its past five games. ... Jake Allen is expected to be back in net Sunday, after Carter Hutton’s spectacular performance in Friday’s 3-0 loss to Winnipeg, stopping 37 of 38 shots.
Avalanche • Colorado remains in last place in the NHL standings with 37 points, which is 16 fewer than the next-highest team in the league (Arizona). ... The Avalanche will be playing the second game of a back-to-back set. They were in Winnipeg on Saturday, where they were blitzed 6-1. ... The Avs made a move at the trade deadline, sending veteran Jarome Iginla to LA. But the team held onto young forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene, continuing to look for better offers.
Injuries • Blues — LW Robby Fabbri (knee) is out; Avalanche — D Nikita Zadorov (ankle) and G Semyon Varlamov (groin) are out.
This day in history:
1969 Blackhawks Bobby Hull becomes the first player to score 50 goals in a season four times
1977 Dionne becomes the first player in Kings franchise to score 100 points and the first to score 100 points with two teams
1985 Dionne becomes first player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season eight times in his career
1985 NY Islander Mike Bossy becomes 1st to score 50 goals in 8 straight seasons
1991 The completely unnecessary, chemistry destroying trade which sent Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning, Robert Dirk, and Sergio Momesso to the Canucks for Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher happened. (Let's trade 3 of our top 9 forwards for a 3rd line C and a tough guy defenseman who doesn't score... BRILLIANT!!! - hated it then, still hate it today)
1992 Mats Sundin has 7 point night (5G, 2A) in Nordiques 10-4 win over Whalers ending a 33 game road winless streak
1996 Gretzky plays his first game with the Blues in 2-0 win over Panthers
