Avalanche at Blues preview: Wild (card) night

To say that tonight’s game is important is an understatement. According to SportsClubStats, a Blues win bumps up their playoff chances by 10%. A loss? It drops their odds by 14%.

This is going to be the rest of the season, folks. As long as the Blues claw their way back into the hunt, every game will probably feature some wild probability swings. The Blues winning back-to-back games against the Kings and Ducks in convincing fashion has saved their bacon for now. A third win in a row could help cook Colorado’s.

Luckily so far the Blues are 3-0-0 against the Avalanche, with their last game happening on February 8th. That was a domineering 6-1 blowout that was more in line with how the Blues have been playing recently than how they floundered the month of February. Picking up two more points against Colorado is an absolute must.

Carter Hutton is still out with an aggravated neck injury, but Joel Edmundson could finally be making his return tonight. Keep your eyes on Ivan Barbashev, who has five points in four games. If there were a time to pick to heat up for the season, right now is it.

The Avalanche dinged the Blues’ playoff hopes a bit Tuesday night, curbstomping the Minnesota Wild to the tune of a 5-1 win. While the Blues were busy going on a barely-fixed losing streak, the Avs have been on an eight-game point streak, which is why they’re in playoff contention after missing out for a few seasons.