The Colorado Avalanche are aiming for their first sweep of the series in 20 years when they face the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of the first inning Sunday afternoon. The Avalanche took a 3-0 series lead on Friday, beating the Blues 5-1 at the Enterprise Center.
Ryan grave recorded his first career multi-point outing in the playoffs with three points (one goal, two assists) in Game 3 while four other Av players also scored, with Alex newhook pick up the winning marker with his first NHL goal. Tyler Bozak scored the only score for St. Louis from the penalty spot, and Ryan O’Reilly and Colton Parayko collected assists for their first points of the postseason.
Colorado goalie Philipp grubauer stopped 31 of 32 shots as the club were outscored 32-26.
Sunday’s reunion will be the first day game for the Avs and Blues in the playoffs, with the contest taking place at 3 p.m. KST. If necessary, the series will return to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday.
The Avs’ last sweep in a playoff series was against the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference quarterfinals in 2001 (4-0).
Avalanche at St. Louis Blues
Business center | Saint Louis, Mo.
COLORADO-ST. LOUIS CONNECTIONS
Avalanche defender Erik Johnson was drafted No. 1 overall by St. Louis and played for the Blues from 2007-2011… Colorado forward Carl Soderberg was drafted in the second round by the Blues in 2004… Avs assistant coach Ray Bennett spent 10 seasons with the Blues coaching staff (2007-2017)… Jared Bednar was the head coach of then affiliate of the American Hockey League in St. Louis. Peoria for two seasons (2010-2012) … Blues center Ryan O’Reilly was the Avs second-round selection (33rd overall) in 2009 and started his career at Colorado … St. Louis Jaden Schwartz played two seasons at Colorado College (2010-2012) and teammate Tyler Bozak skated at the University of Denver for two years (2007-2009)… Blues assistant coach Jim Montgomery spent five seasons as head coach of the University of Denver (2013-2018).
THE STORY
In the first three games of the first round series, the Avs beat Saint-Louis 15-5, averaging 5.00 goals per game and allowing just 1.67 goals against per game. The team has seen 17 different players find the series scoresheet, compared to the 12 St. Louis skaters registering at least one point so far. Nathan MacKinnon (five goals, two assists), Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, five assists) and Mikko Rantanen (five assists) provided the offensive firepower for the Avalanche, as Landeskog and Rantanen have collected at least one point in every fight so far in the series.
Colorado is an 8-1 record against St. Louis in the playoffs and has six straight playoff wins against the team since Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in 2001. The Avs are looking for their way. fourth consecutive victory in this series, as the club won Games 1 and 2 at Ball Arena by scores of 4-1 and 6-3, respectively, then followed with a 5-1 victory on Friday in Saint Louis.
POWER RATIO
Colorado are expected to use the same lineup Sunday as in Game 3 Friday. Carl Soderberg skated in his first playoff competition in Game 3, as Nazem kadri was serving the first contest of an eight-game suspension for an illegal failure at the head of the previous outing. Soderberg played on the left side of a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex newhook, while JT Compher inserted on the second line between André Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi.
INJURY UPDATE
- Matt Calvert (upper body): long term
- Devan Dubnyk (COVID Protocol): Was removed from the NHL’s COVID protocol list on May 14 and continues to work on his conditioning after returning to team training on Monday
- Pavel Francouz (lower body): expected to return to full health next season after undergoing surgery earlier this year
- Erik Johnson (upper body): Could return later in the playoffs
- Logan o’connor (lower body): long term after requiring surgery
SCOUTING THE BLUES
The Blues scored their only goal in Game 3 from the penalty spot, as Tyler Bozak completed a stream from Ryan O’Reilly in the high lunge. Saint-Louis is one of six teams – along with the Avalanche – to have a shorthanded scorer in the playoffs so far. The team also had a perfect 4v4 on the penalty spot, the first game of the series, the Blues’ downed unit did not allow a power play goal, dropping to 6v9 (66.7% ). generally.
The first two lines of St. Louis will look to launch offensively in Game 4, as O’Reilly, Ivan Barbashev, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz combined for just four points (two goals, two assists ) a score of minus-28 in the first three matches.
(AVS) PLAYER TO WATCH: PHILIPP GRUBAUER
Goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer has been a cornerstone between the pipes in the first three games of the first round series, with a 3-0 record, a 1.67 goals-against average and a save percentage of , 944. Among goaltenders who have played three or more games in the 2021 playoffs, Grubauer is tied for first in wins and second in save percentage and goals against average. He also sits second in goals against, dropping just five scorers in three games.
The Rosenheim, Germany native has won seven of his last eight playoff games and has a career mark of 16-6-1, a goals-against average of 2.35 and save percentage of .917 in 25 departures. His 22 starts, 15 playoff wins and a 2.08 goals against average in an Avalanche jersey all rank second in team history (since 1995-96).
(AGAINST) PLAYER TO WATCH: TOREY KRUG
Torey Krug has a wealth of Stanley Cup playoff experience, competing in two Stanley Cup finals with the Boston Bruins and scoring 11 goals and 43 assists in 78 career playoff games. His 78 playoff appearances are the Blues’ third most important, behind just 92 games for David Perron and 87 games for Jaden Schwartz.
In the 2021 playoffs, the defender has been one of the Blues’ strengths throughout the first round series as he is tied for the team lead with two assists. Krug is the team’s second in ice time per game, averaging 23:48 in the first three games, and has the second-most shots (nine, tied) on the roster.
NUMBERS GAME
6 + 5
Colorado enter Game 4 with a 3-0 series lead for just the sixth time in franchise history and the fifth time since the club moved to Denver in 1995-96. The Avalanche / Nordiques franchise is an all-time perfect 5-0 in the playoffs winning the first three games and 4-0 since moving to Denver.
13
Mikko Rantanen enters Sunday’s contest on a 13-game playoff streak, accumulating six goals and 15 assists in a stretch that began in the 2020 playoffs. Rantanen has recorded at least one point in each of the three clashes. so far in the first round series, recording five assists for the team’s third most points.
32 x 9
The Avalanche received offensive production from forwards and defenders in the first round series, as the team’s forwards combined for 32 points and defenders totaled nine points in the first three games. The 32 points by forwards and the nine points by the defenders are both tied for second in the league.
NOTEBOOK
The Avalanche have won a series sweep twice since the team moved to Denver in 1995-96, with those two four-game series wins coming in Stanley Cup races in 1996 and 2001… Gabriel Landeskog scored at least one point in each of the first three contests in the series, collecting six points (one goal, five assists) on the stretch for the second most on the roster. He has also found the scoresheet in nine of his last 11 playoff games … Brandon saad has scored one goal in two consecutive games and is tied with Joonas Donskoi for the team’s second most… The Avalanche have scored one goal in an empty net in each of the first three games, along with two of those results in Game 2 for a total of four empty net scorers, the most in the NHL… Alex Newhook is the third player in franchise history to score his first career NHL goal in the Cup playoffs Stanley. He is also the sixth youngest player in Quebec / Colorado history to score his first playoff goal, making it at the age of 20 years and 113 days… The Avs are 2-1 when they visit the Blues in the all-time playoffs. , with an average of 4.00 goals and 2.67 goals against in such clashes.