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The Colorado Avalanche is enduring its longest winless streak since the franchise relocated from Quebec before the 1995-96 season. They may be poised to end the slide, as they have beaten the St. Louis Blues six straight times.

The Avalanche will try to snap its 10-game skid Tuesday night when the club visits the Blues in a matchup of teams that made a major trade last week.

Colorado (25-27-7) has the Western Conference's second-lowest point total with 57 and St. Louis (27-22-9) the third-lowest with 63. This contest is a makeup of the Feb. 1 game that was postponed due to severe weather.

The Avs have been outscored 42-14 in going 0-9-1 since a 4-3 home victory over the Blues on Jan. 24.

"We have to find a way to get a win," coach Joe Sacco said. "When we do that, I really believe that we'll put some wins together and put a streak together."

Although Colorado has been having trouble scoring, it's generated plenty of offense during its six-game run against St. Louis. The Avalanche has totaled 31 goals, with at least four in each game.

Center Matt Duchene has six points in six career games against St. Louis, and the Avalanche's top scorer could be back after missing the last two contests with a hand injury.

"It's hard to be detached from (the team) and have to sit in the background and watch it," Duchene said. "But it's good to be back."

These teams are meeting for the first time since Friday's trade that sent defenseman Erik Johnson and center Jay McClement to Colorado in exchange for right wing Chris Stewart and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

Johnson, drafted No. 1 overall by the Blues in 2006, was a slight disappointment in St. Louis.

"It's going to be weird coming into your old rink, on the other side of the barn - seeing your old trainers, and coaches, teammates," he said. "But I think it's going to be fun more than anything."

Johnson and McClement debuted for Colorado in a 4-0 loss at San Jose on Saturday.

Stewart led the Avalanche with 28 goals last season, but was hampered this season by a broken hand that sidelined him for 21 games. He scored twice on the power play in his St. Louis debut, a 9-3 win over Anaheim on Saturday.

Sacco said that Peter Budaj, 0-5-1 with a 3.58 goals-against average in his last six starts, will get the nod Tuesday. Budaj has won his last four starts against the Blues with a 2.25 GAA.

It's uncertain who will be in goal for St. Louis. Ben Bishop was replaced by Ty Conklin after surrendering four goals on eight shots in the second period of a 5-3 loss to Chicago on Monday. Bishop made his fourth career start and first since Dec. 18, 2008.

"I felt good going into the game, felt good in the first," Bishop said. "I felt good in the second, too. Just a couple of breakdowns there."

Bishop has never faced the Avalanche while Conklin is 3-4-1 with a 2.94 GAA in eight starts against them. Jaroslav Halak is on injured reserve.

St. Louis has gone 8-for-20 on the power play in its last five games. Colorado is the league's third-worst penalty killing team at 77.4 percent.




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STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
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