The St. Louis Blues visit the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night, and both teams are trying to break out of slumps.
St. Louis (23-24-4) has lost three in a row, falling further back in the Western Conference playoff race as the NHL season heads toward the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Blues aren’t standing pat, though. They mutually parted ways with forward Brandon Saad after the veteran put up just seven goals and nine assists in 43 games. The left winger will become a free agent.
“Right now, the cap is tight, and obviously, statistically, he’s not having a great year, and he’s got another year left,” general manager Doug Armstrong said during a news conference. “If we could find a match, we would try.”
Saad’s departure comes after St. Louis traded defenseman Scott Perunovich to the New York Islanders earlier in the week.
The Blues are retooling around their young talent while trying to stay in the postseason picture. Their top three scorers — Jordan Kyrou (21 goals, 21 assists), Dylan Holloway (16 goals, 22 assists) and Robert Thomas (12 goals, 24 assists) — are age 26 and under.
Friday will be the first of four games between the teams this season, and it’s important for both sides. Heading into the matchup, St. Louis trails Colorado by 10 points in the standings.
The Blues have dropped four of their last five games, failing to score more than two goals in each of those four losses.
They’re facing a Colorado team that’s 4-5-1 in its last 10 games after wrapping up a 1-2-0 road trip through Boston and New York, where the Avs played the Rangers and Islanders.
“I thought we played three solid hockey games and we won one,” coach Jared Bednar said. “So, that’s getting a little old for me. Ultimately, we’ve got to do a better job converting on some of our chances.”
Friday night is the first home game since the Avalanche (29-21-2) shook the foundation by trading their top goal scorer, Mikko Rantanen, to the Carolina Hurricanes. Martin Necas and Jack Drury, acquired in the trade, played in all three road games and made an immediate impact. Drury had two goals and Necas added four assists in their first three games with Colorado.
The Avalanche still have NHL points leader Nathan MacKinnon (19 goals, 59 assists) and Cale Makar, whose 56 points (18 goals, 38 assists) ranks second among defensemen. Necas, with 59 points overall this season (16 goals, 43 assists), is in the top 15 in the league.
The Avalanche hope to have burly forward Valeri Nichushkin back soon from a lower-body injury. Due to a suspension and the injury, Nichushkin has played in just 21 games this season and has been out since Dec. 31.
He is not expected back until after the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Defenseman Oliver Kylington, who has been out since Nov. 27 with an upper-body injury, is getting close to full health and should return to the lineup before the NHL break kicks off next week.
