Eurolanche

Blues hope to bounce back against Avs

Season series: This is the first of three meetings.

Big story: It’s a nationally-televised Wednesday Night Rivalry matchup featuring a pair of Western Conference foes battling for spots in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Team Scope:

Blues: After a successful road trip that saw them reel off three straight victories, the Blues returned home and suffered a frustrating 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

One can understand why it perhaps took a bit for the Blues to find their legs – they arrived in St. Louis just 12-1/2 hours prior to Tuesday’s opening faceoff -- 14 hours after they were supposed to land from Vancouver -- because of mechanical issues with the team's charter flight.

“It's unfortunate what happened yesterday [with the team's travel], but we can't use it as an excuse,” said goaltender Jake Allen, who suffered his first loss since being promoted from Peoria of the American Hockey League. “It happened. We're here tonight to play. We had our moments, but we weren't as consistent as we were on the road. Hopefully, we bounce back and get that back tomorrow."

Avalanche: Colorado found its offensive game Monday afternoon, when it earned a 6-5 win against the Nashville Predators at the Pepsi Center. Matt Duchene and Aaron Palushaj collected a goal and two assists each for the Avs, who entered the game averaging just 2.3 goals per contest.

"It was a crazy game out there, that's for sure," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. "It was entertaining for the fans, but maybe not so much for the coaches. The bottom line is we found a way to win. It was not the game that we expected. It was just one of those games."

Who’s hot: Duchene has scored in four straight games for the Avalanche. He also has four assists in the past two contests … Blues center Patrik Berglund scored his team’s lone goal Tuesday night, extending his goal streak to four consecutive contests.

Injury report: Erik Johnson (head), Ryan Wilson (leg) and Gabriel Landeskog (head) are out indefinitely for Colorado. … Blues winger Jamie Langenbrunner (hip) is out for the season.

-by Brian Compton for NHL.com-