GDT: St Louis Blues @ Colorado Refalanche 8:30PM CST ESPN

[TheDizee]

The playoff push is on as the Blues look for points in a record 17 straight games. The Refalanche are on a 4 game losing streak and will be on home ice, so expect a PP fest tonight as the league will not want their darlings to continue their downward spiral. The Refalanche lead the NHL in Power Play Opportunities and are ahead of the Blues by a whopping 32 Power Plays yet the Note comes in with league's #2 PP because they have cashed in more on their chances.

Thomas and Tarasenko will both try to extend their point streaks and the Blues continue their push for home ice vs Minnesota.

I will update the Blues lineup and the Refalanche's expected lineup once Scouting The Refs announces the zebras for the game.

REFALANCHE STARTERS:

REFEREES​
	Kyle Rehman #10	Marc Joannette #25

LETS GO BLUES!

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[The Note]

When: Tuesday, April 26 at 8:30 p.m. CT
Where: Ball Arena in Denver, CO
Watch: ESPN
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues app



Blues lineup updated per team site

Saad - O'Reilly - Perron
Buchnevich - Thomas - Tarasenko
Barbashev - Bozak - Kyrou
Toropchenko - Brown - Walker

Scandella - Parayko
Leddy - Faulk
Krug - Mikkola/Rosen

Binnington

vs.



Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Nichushkin
Meyers-Kadri-Burakovsky
Newhook-Compher-Aube-Kubel
Cogliano-Sturm-Helm

Byram-Makar
Girad-Manson
Johnson-Johnson (a family company)

Kuemper​

 

[eibyyz]

Well, if it's going to be a penalty-fest, dress our goons, semi-goons and heavy hitters and soften up the Avalanches for the Stars.

 

[Chet Manly]

*sorry, not trying to bypass the filter
F*****************************************************ck.

Is it Monday yet?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[EurlichBachman]

Cringe.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Thanks for making the GDT.

 

[Chet Manly]

Which one?!?

 

[Chet Manly]

Which one?!?

Can't decide!!!

 

[Chet Manly]

Can't decide!!!

BRAIN ANEURYSM!!!

 

[TheDizee]

colorado starters have been announced, waiting to see who is in net for the blues.

 

[Reality Czech]

Ya don't think Bozak will be back in tonight? If healthy, he'll probably be in over Torpo or Brown. I'd guess Torpo if I had to pick one, but we might want the more physical player against the Avs.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

Ya don't think Bozak will be back in tonight? If healthy, he'll probably be in over Torpo or Brown. I'd guess Torpo if I had to pick one, but we might want the more physical player against the Avs.

thought Bozak looked pretty good last game, especially considering the time off

 

[BrokenFace]

Any news on when Krug might return?

 

[The Note]

Ya don't think Bozak will be back in tonight? If healthy, he'll probably be in over Torpo or Brown. I'd guess Torpo if I had to pick one, but we might want the more physical player against the Avs.

He's there on the 3rd line C spot. I just used the lines from the Ducks game as a placeholder until more info comes out about tonight's game tbh.

 

[The Note]

Any news on when Krug might return?

Binnington starting it seems

 

[Brian39]

Big game for Binner. Berube is giving him the chance to make a statement and take the job back from Husso. I still expect to see both goalies in the playoffs, but the decision to go with Binner tonight tells me that Berube hasn't made his mind up about who is starting game 1.

I had a migraine and couldn't watch the Ducks game, so I don't really have much opinion on how Husso looked outside of the highlights. I thought Binner played much better than his stats suggested on Saturday, but I don't know is that was the case for Husso on Sunday.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Ya don't think Bozak will be back in tonight? If healthy, he'll probably be in over Torpo or Brown. I'd guess Torpo if I had to pick one, but we might want the more physical player against the Avs.

Schenn is out until the Vegas game, so Bozak will remain in the 3C spot.

Forward lines will be the same tonight, but Bortuzzo and most likely Rosen are out again tonight. Krug-Mikkola third pair?

 

[WATTAGE4451]

Big game for Binner. Berube is giving him the chance to make a statement and take the job back from Husso. I still expect to see both goalies in the playoffs, but the decision to go with Binner tonight tells me that Berube hasn't made his mind up about who is starting game 1.

I thi k husso is the starter no matter how binny plays this game. They wanted to probably give husso more days off to end season no matter what to keep fresh, although i had expected binny to start vs vegas but its nice to get binny battle tested vs actual playoff team as hes only faced 2 since the beginning of february and got lit up in the one vs the oilers. Its an opportunity to show his improved play isnt just about weak opponents and get him used to seeing tougher comp again in case husso struggles in the first 2 games and they need to bench him

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Big game for Binner. Berube is giving him the chance to make a statement and take the job back from Husso. I still expect to see both goalies in the playoffs, but the decision to go with Binner tonight tells me that Berube hasn't made his mind up about who is starting game 1.

I kind of more got the sense Husso was showing some fatigue and they’re backing off his work load a bit. Binnington has played better, but not well enough to really threaten Husso’s role. It would be good for him to go into the postseason with some confidence, in case Husso wilts.

But I think Husso will be the game 1 starter regardless of what happens the next 2 games.

 

[Brian39]

I kind of more got the sense Husso was showing some fatigue and they’re backing off his work load a bit. Binnington has played better, but not well enough to really threaten Husso’s role. It would be good for him to go into the postseason with some confidence, in case Husso wilts.

But I think Husso will be the game 1 starter regardless of what happens the next 2 games.

I felt that the workload management started a couple weeks ago with Binner playing both Thursday games. I wouldn't want Husso sitting for a full week before playoffs if he's going in game 1. With that in mind, I figured that he would go tonight against Colorado and Binner would go against Vegas to give Husso would a 5 day break before playoffs. That seems a bit better than giving him 4 days off, giving him a start and then getting another 2 days off.

We're playing the best team in the West and still in a fight for home ice. We only play 2 games in the 7 days leading up to playoffs (while a lot of teams play 3) and Husso's workload has been well managed in the last 2 weeks. Given the remaining team schedule and goalie schedule leading up to this game, this is a game I would expect a clear-cut starter to play.

You could absolutely be right and I could be reading too much into it. But this is the first time I've been surprised by a goalie decision by Berube in April.

 

[Blanick]

Preview of our second round matchup tonight. Yes, I am that confident.

 

[Stealth JD]

Preview of our second round matchup tonight. Yes, I am that confident.

We're playing Dallas?

 

[BlueDream]

Schenn is out until the Vegas game, so Bozak will remain in the 3C spot.

Forward lines will be the same tonight, but Bortuzzo and most likely Rosen are out again tonight. Krug-Mikkola third pair?

Looks like Bortuzzo is fine and is in the lineup tonight.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Looks like Bortuzzo is fine and is in the lineup tonight.

 

[Reality Czech]

Bortz took a pretty rough spill into the boards last game, not surprised he's still feeling it. As much as that sucks, I'm pretty confident with Mikkola in his place. Someone will have to play their off side, but I think Mikkola has shown enough to be a solid 3rd pair option.