The Colorado Avalanche returned home Thursday night with a chance to put the Central Division and the Western Conference’s top seed out of reach, hosting the St. Louis Blues in the first game of a home-and-home to close the season series. Colorado was two points away from clinching both races after a big win in Dallas the night before, and another victory would hand the Avalanche the division title.
The matchup came with recent history still fresh. Colorado demolished St. Louis 6-1 on New Year’s Eve in the teams’ previous meeting, a game in which Valeri Nichushkin produced one of the Avalanche’s three hat tricks in the 2025-26 season. The series was set to shift to St. Louis on Tuesday night, giving the Blues one last chance to respond after Colorado’s latest surge.
For the Avalanche, the injury picture had started to ease after a difficult stretch following the Olympic break. Four forwards had recently returned on the road trip, leaving Nic Roy as the only Colorado forward on the shelf, though Cale Makar was not expected to play after leaving the March 30 game against Calgary with an upper-body injury. Colorado viewed Scott Wedgewood as its starter without confirming it, and he had started against Dallas the previous day. Mackenzie Blackwood was expected to start against St. Louis.
St. Louis entered at 32-31-12 and still very much alive in the playoff chase after what had once looked like a fading season. Robert Thomas led the Blues with 53 points, and Joel Hofer had become a major reason they were back in the picture after winning his 20th game of the season in Friday night’s victory over Anaheim. Hofer could have seen the net in both games against the Avalanche, a demanding stretch for a team trying to keep its late push intact.
The Blues had lost only four times in March and only twice in regulation since the Olympic break, a run that had changed the feel around the club. But Colorado was still the sharper team in this matchup, healthier, deeper and one step from securing the West’s top spot. If the Avalanche handled business again, the final meeting in St. Louis on Tuesday night would carry more about pride than pressure.
