Avalanche at Blues preview: Varlamov or Grubauer in net?

The last time that the Blues played the Avs, they took them down 3-2 in overtime despite allowing a tying goal from Mikko Rantanen. It was one of the Blues’ better, more focused games of the year. Since then it’s been a “win one, lose the next one by six goals” see-saw.

The Blues won a tenacious game over the Florida Panthers Tuesday. Should we expect a 5-2 loss tonight? Hopefully not, and probably not. Why?

First off, the Blues’ win on Tuesday wasn’t necessarily good hockey. They had to score four goals in the fourth period, and the fourth one had to be done to mitigate the Blues blowing a 3-1 lead. David Perron, who was benched on Sunday, was apparently angry and scored twice. It was a character win, but it wasn’t a pretty win, so maybe it didn’t go to the Blues’ heads.

The other issue is that the Avalanche haven’t been playing well recently. They lost their last two games by a combined 13 goals, which is not good, and Semyon Varlamov has had issues in both. He’s got a short leash, so maybe the Blues may not even see him at all. On the other hand, the Avs put in three against Edmonton in the third period Tuesday night, so sleep at your own peril.

The line-up’s the same as Tuesday. Maybe the results will be too.