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Blues try to end slide, get revenge over Avalanche

Dec 29, 2014 - 4:02 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The sliding St. Louis Blues will try to earn some payback for a recent loss when they host the Colorado Avalanche in Monday's Central Division battle at Scottrade Center.

The Blues are in the midst of their longest losing streak of the season and the most lopsided defeat of the 0-3-1 stretch came Tuesday in Colorado, as the Avalanche pounded St. Louis by a 5-0 score.

The drought has dropped St. Louis into a tie with Winnipeg for the third and final playoff spot in the Central. The Blues currently hold the tiebreaker with the Jets, who are hosting Minnesota tonight.

Jarome Iginla, Ryan O'Reilly and Alex Tanguay each posted a goal and an assist on Tuesday for the Avalanche, while Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for the shutout victory, which was only Colorado's second win in the past eight meetings with St. Louis.

Tuesday's loss came in the finale of a three-game road trip that saw the Blues earn just one out of a possible six points. A return to the Gateway City didn't help end the slide on Saturday, when Dallas posted a 4-3 regulation win over the Blues.

St. Louis fell to 12-4-1 as the home team this season and has won six of its last seven home encounters against the Avs.

The Blues were tied 2-2 with Dallas after one period, but defensemen Trevor Daley and Jason Demers scored power-play goals in the second period to put the Stars up for good. Dallas went 2-for-5 on the power play, while St. Louis converted one of four chances with the man advantage.

Vladimir Tarasenko netted his 21st goal of the season for the Blues, who are on their longest losing streak since an 0-6-0 slide to end the 2013-14 regular season. David Backes and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 20-of-24 shots.

"Quite frankly, we're not getting the job done. And that's everybody," said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock.

While injured No. 1 goaltender Brian Elliott is nearing a return to the crease, Martin Brodeur will get the start tonight. Brodeur is 17-8-1 with a lifetime 2.24 GAA versus Colorado.

Elliott, who has been sidelined since Nov. 25 with a lower-body injury, was back at practice on Sunday and could return to game action as early as Tuesday, when the Blues begin a four-game road trip in Nashville.

The Avalanche posted a season-high winning streak with Tuesday's win over the Blues, but the streak was halted at three in Saturday's 5-2 home loss to Chicago. Patrick Kane tallied two goals and an assist as to lead the way for the Blackhawks, who overcame an early 2-1 deficit with four unanswered goals.

Colorado allowed Chicago to score twice on four power-play opportunities, while failing to score on three chances of its own.

"Their power play was the difference in the game," Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said. "We had our chances to get back in that game, but we didn't manage the puck well."

Nathan MacKinnon and Erik Johnson each lit the lamp for the Avs, while Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 32 shots for the Avalanche.

Varlamov expects to start tonight. He is 6-4-2 with a 1.75 GAA and three shutouts in his career against St. Louis.

Colorado, which will begin a three-game homestand Wednesday against Philadelphia, is 6-6-5 as the guest this season. The Avs have won two straight on the road and own a 2-0-1 record over their past three away tilts.