(1-13-21) Blues-Avalanche Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
There were no surprises, nothing out of the ordinary for the Blues as they get set to open the season today against the Colorado Avalanche (9:30 p.m.; NBCSN, ESPN 101.1-FM) at Ball Arena.

All that's left is to drop the puck and get this thing started.

The Blues will skate a lineup that we saw much of during their abbreviated training camp, and as far as coach Craig Berube is concerned, let's get the party started.

"They are (ready)," Berube said of his players. "They're ready to play games. Normal morning skate. There was good life and they're moving well. It's just a matter of getting out there and playing some games now."

The schedule is condensed down to 56 games, and the importance of teams getting off to a good start is imperative. 

During the lockout season of 2012-13 when the schedule was 48 games, the Blues won six of their first seven games and never looked back. They also had a six-game winning streak mixed in there as well as winning six of their final seven games to finish 29-17-2 and in the playoffs.

Playing catch-up like they did in 2018-19 (everyone knows how that turned out!) won't be an option here.

"Definitely, we all know that. Year in and year out, if you look at teams that start fast, they usually finish strong, they get themselves in a playoff position. I don't think it's a whole lot different. It's always important to get off to good starts so you're not playing catch-up."

It all starts with the Avalanche, which is projected by many to not only win the newly-formed West Division, but win the Stanley Cup.

Tonight marks the first of eight meetings with the Avalanche.

"I think they're obviously going to be one of the best teams in our division," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "I don't think there's ever an easy game against these guys. They've added some great pieces, but so have we. Looking at them, this is a big test for us and I think it's good for us to just start with them. We know it's going to be ultra-competitive and we're going to see these guys a lot. This is a team we're going to have to get through in order to I think move on. It's going to be a great rivalry."

"We're definitely excited," defenseman Colton Parayko said. "We know they're a good team. It's going to be a good one tonight and we're looking forward to it." 

The hype about the balance in the Blues' lineup is warranted, but so is Colorado's. The Avalanche have added former Chicago Blackhawk Brandon Saad and acquired former New York Islanders defenseman Devon Toews to its lineup.

"They've obviously got some great players over there, (Nathan) MacKinnon, (Cale) Makar to name a couple," Berube said. "There's more than that though. They're a high, potent offensive team, good power play. We've got to do a good job checking, we have to do a real good job with the puck, keeping the puck, getting it deep, working them down low, that's going to be really important, and staying disciplined and staying out of the penalty box."

Tonight will mark the first of two matchups in Denver for the Blues against the Avalanche, part of the uniqueness of the schedule that includes multiple games against the same team to limit travel during a pandemic.

"The whole schedule, it's going to be like that," Berube said. "You're going to play a couple games in every city and then go to the next city and play a couple games in every city and go to the next city and play a couple games; you're probably there for three or four days. It does feel like a playoff mini series. We're going to see a lot of the same teams a lot. We're going to know each other, the ins and outs, every little thing. Really it just boils down to execution and competitiveness. A lot of times just playing harder than the other team and you're going to get wins out of that."

Tonight will mark the Blues debuts of defenseman Torey Krug and forwards Mike Hoffman and Kyle Clifford.

Krug signed a seven-year, $45.5 million contract after it was was a foregone conclusion that former captain Alex Pietrangelo, who signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with the Vegas Golden Knights, would not be returning.

Hoffman signed a one-year, $4 million contract on Monday after coming to camp signing a professional tryout contract, and Clifford was signed as a free agent, getting a two-year, $2 million deal.

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Also to no surprise, the Blues put forward Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) on long-term injured-reserve today and called up forwards Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from the taxi squad.

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Robert Thomas-Mike Hoffman

Zach Sanford-Tyler Bozak-Jordan Kyrou

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Vince Dunn-Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso will be the backup.

Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) is out. Carl Gunnarsson, Sammy Blais and Mackenzie MacEachern are healthy scratches.

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The Avalanche's projected lineup:

Andre Burakovsky-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen

Gabriel Landeskog-Nazem Kadri-Brandon Saad

Valeri Nichushkin-J.T. Compher-Joonas Donskoi

Tyson Jost-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Matt Calvert

Devon Toews-Cale Makar

Samuel Girard-Conor Timmins

Ryan Graves-Ian Cole

Philipp Grubauer will start in goal; Pavel Francouz will be the backup.

Erik Johnson (COVID-19) is out.