The Colorado Avalanche lead the best-of-seven series against the St. Louis Blues 3-0 after winning their third game 5-1 on Friday night at the Enterprise Center.
This is the fifth time in franchise history that the Avs have taken a 3-0 lead in the playoffs, most recently in the 2006 Western Conference quarter-finals against the Dallas Stars. Colorado was 4-0 in these previous series.
Ryan Graves had a goal and two assists for the Avs while rookie Alex Newhook reached his first career NHL goal. Tyson Jost, Brandon Saad and JT Compher also scored for Colorado.
After a goalless first half, the Avalanche scored three goals in the second frame to take the lead before Tyler Bozak scored a shorthanded goal to end the run. It was the only shot that got past the goalkeeper Philipp Grubauerwho finished 31 parades.
Saad and Compher (empty net) added tallies late in the third period to seal the win.
THE GOALS
1. Period
No value
2nd period
1:57 COL (1-0) – After Ryan Graves came out of the box, he hit the Blues goalkeeper Jordan Binnington for the puck and hit an open net from the left circle.
12:37 COL (2-0) – Alex Newhook scored his first NHL goal after Ryan Graves’ shot bounced back straight at him and he buried the shot in a gaping cage.
16:08 COL (3-0) – Tyson Jost picked up his own rebound and came off the goal line on his knees.
16:17 STL (3-1) – SHG, Tyler Bozak hit with a one-timer after a pass from Ryan O’Reilly.
3rd period
13:42 COL (4-1) – Brandon Saad took a pass from Andre Burakovsky at the front of the net, held by his backhand and hit in the crease.
19:06 COL (5-1) – ENG, JT Compher cleared the puck from the side boards and the puck pushed the length of the ice into the empty net.
Final: Avalanche – 5 | Blues – 1
3 STARS
- Ryan Graves (COL): Three point night
- Tyler Bozan (STL): Achieved
- Philipp Grubauer (COL): All but one of the shots were stopped
Selected by St. Louis Media
POWER PLAYS
Colorado: 0 for 4
St. Louis: 0 for 3
TARGET BATTLE
Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 31 of 32 shots.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington allowed four goals in 25 shots.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Rookie Alex Newhook scored his first career NHL goal in the second period and was the sixth youngest player in Avalanche / Nordiques history to score his first career playoff goal Nathan MacKinnon (18 years, 230 days), Ryan O’Reilly (19 years, 70 days), Randy Moller (19 years, 229 days), Wojtek Wolski (20 years, 57 days) and Bruce Bell (20 years, 67 days).
Cale Makar was the last Avalanche player to score his first career NHL goal in a postseason game on April 15, 2019 in Game 3 of Series 1 against the Calgary Flames.
NOTEBOOK
Birthday boy Ryan Graves, who turned 26, now has four points in three games in those playoffs after recording his first career multi-point postseason competition in Game 3. Graves was the third player in franchise history to score a playoff goal for his birthday, along with Michel Goulet (Game 2, 1985 DF) and Bob Bassen (Game 1 of 1995 CQF) … Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, five assists ) and Mikko Rantanen (five assists) now have points … St. Louis was challenged at 3:52 in the second half for goalkeeper interference, but the goal was confirmed and the Blues were charged with delaying the game … Brandon Saad scored his 20th Career playoff goal.
BIG HIGHLIGHT
Video: COL @ STL, Gm3: Graves opens the scoring after 4 against 4
IMAGE OF THE GAME
Not # 4 Bobby Orr
ROSTER REPORT
Carl Soderberg played his first playoff game of the year, replacing Nazem Kadri in the lineup. Soderberg played in the fourth row Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Newhook. JT Compher moved to Kadri’s previous seat in the second row with Andre Burakovsky and Kadri Joonas Donskoi. Kadri served the first of eight bans for an illegal head check in Game 2 – the NHL announced the punishment during the first break.
INJURY UPDATE
- Matt Calvert (Upper body): Long term, last played March 23 in Arizona
- Devan Dubnyk (COVID Log): Removed from the NHL COVID log last Friday May 14th and has been ice skating with the team in training since Monday morning
- Erik Johnson (Upper body): Might return to the playoffs later as he was injured in Minnesota on January 30th
- Logan O’Connor (Lower Body): Long retired after surgery, last played against Arizona on March 31st
- Pavel Francouz (Lower body): Expected to be healthy again next season after surgery earlier this year, injured during training on January 18th
NEXT
The Avalanche and the Blues meet in St. Louis on Sunday for an afternoon affair for Game 4, with the puck drop set at 3pm MT. If necessary, the series will return to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Line combinations
Based on the start of the game
Forward
92 Gabriel Landeskog – 29 Nathan MacKinnon – 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky – 37 JT Compher – 72 Joonas Donskoi
20 Brandon Saad – 17 Tyson Jost – 13 Valery Nichushkin
34 Carl Soderberg – 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – 18 Alex Newhook
defender
7th Devon Toews – 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard – 27 Ryan Graves
24 Patrik Nemeth – 22 Conor Timmins
goalkeeper
31 Philipp Grubauer
35 Jonas Johansson
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