(My Sportsbook) - Without two of their best offensive players, goals figure to be hard to come by for the Blues. The way Chris Mason played last night, that shouldn't matter.
The Blues aim for a season-high fourth straight win tonight, when they visit the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
St. Louis has been without forward Paul Kariya for the last eight games due to a lower-body issue, while McDonald has missed the last three contests because of a broken left ankle that will sideline him for about two months.
The Blues have won their last three games for a second time this year despite not having those two skaters, and are averaging 2.75 goals per game over their last eight contests.
They failed to score in both regulation and overtime on Tuesday, but still left Nashville with a 1-0 shootout victory thanks to Chris Mason. Mason made a career-high 47 saves in the win and also stopped a pair of shootout skaters to record his second straight victory after losing his first five decisions with the Blues. It was also his first shutout of the season and 13th of his career.
Mason was playing in Nashville for the first time since it traded him to the Blues this past offseason.
David Perron and Brad Boyes both found the back of the net in the shootout, giving the Blues their third straight win on the road. St. Louis caps a three- game trip tonight and is 4-4-1 as the visiting club this year.
Mason has made eight appearances (6 starts) this year while serving as Manny Legace's backup. And while Legace has posted a 3.32 goals against average in five November starts (2-1-1), Mason has yielded only two goals over his last three outings (2-1-0), which could earn him another start tonight.
Unlike Mason, Colorado's Peter Budaj comes into this contest on a bit of a slump. The goaltender has allowed three goals in three of his last four starts, going 1-3-0 in that span, and was lifted after the second period of Monday's 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Budaj stopped 16-of-19 shots faced before being relieved by Andrew Raycroft, who allowed a goal on five shots. Ian Laperriere had the lone goal for the Avalanche, who have dropped three of their last four contests and are last in the Northwest Division with 18 points.
Colorado also continues to deal with a rash of injuries. Captain Joe Sakic hasn't stepped on the ice in any of the Avs' last six games, while both Adam Foote (back/neck) and Wojtek Wolski (head) missed Monday's game. Meanwhile, Darcy Tucker is now out due to a knee injury suffered against the Ducks.
The Avalanche are 4-5-0 this year at the Pepsi Center, where they have lost four of their last five.
These two clubs split their four-game series a season ago, but the Blues have still won four of their last six versus the Avalanche.
