Avalanche and Blues Square Off in Game 4 Matinee

The Colorado Avalanche seeks its first series sweep in 20 years when facing off against the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of Round 1 on Sunday afternoon. The Avalanche took a 3-0 series lead on Friday, defeating the Blues 5-1 at Enterprise Center.
Ryan Graves registered his first career multi-point outing in the postseason with three points (one goal, two assists) in Game 3 while four other Avs players also scored, with Alex Newhook picking up the game-winning marker with his first NHL goal. Tyler Bozak scored the lone tally for St. Louis on the penalty kill, and Ryan O'Reilly and Colton Parayko picked up assists for their first points of the postseason.

Colorado netminder Philipp Grubauer stopped 31-of-32 shots, as the club was outshot in the contest 32-26.
Sunday's meeting will be the first day game for the Avs and Blues this postseason, with the contest being held at 3 p.m. MT. If necessary, the series will shift back to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday.
The Avs' last sweep in a playoff series was against the Vancouver Canucks in the 2001 Western Conference Quarterfinals (4-0).

Avalanche at St. Louis Blues

Enterprise Center | St. Louis, Mo.
| Game Time: | 3:00 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, NBCSN, Sportsnet 360, TVA Sports, Bally Sports-Midwest (STL) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-ST. LOUIS CONNECTIONS

Avalanche defenseman 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 on the Blues' coaching staff (2007-2017)… Jared Bednar was the head coach of St. Louis' then-American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria for two seasons (2010-2012)... Blues center Ryan O'Reilly was the Avs' second-round selection (No. 33 overall) in 2009 and began his career in Colorado… St. Louis forward 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 the University of Denver head coach (2013-2018).

HISTORY

Through the first three games in the first-round series, the Avs have outscored St. Louis 15-5, averaging 5.00 goals per game and allowing just 1.67 goals against per contest. The squad has seen 17 different players find the scoresheet in the series, compared to St. Louis' 12 skaters recording at least a point thus far. Nathan MacKinnon (five goals, two assists), Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, five assists) and Mikko Rantanen (five assists) have provided the offensive firepower for the Avalanche, as Landeskog and Rantanen have collected at least a point in each contest so far in the series.
Colorado sports an all-time 8-1 mark versus St. Louis in the postseason and has earned six consecutive playoffs victories versus the squad dating back to Game 4 of the 2001 Western Conference Final. The Avs look for its fourth straight win in this series, as the club won Games 1 and 2 at Ball Arena by scores of 4-1 and 6-3, respectively, and then followed it up with a 5-1 victory on Friday in St. Louis.

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado is expected to use the same lineup on Sunday as it did in Game 3 on Friday. Carl Soderberg skated in his first contest of the playoffs in Game 3, as Nazem Kadri was serving the first contest of an eight-game suspension for an illegal check to the head from the previous outing. Soderberg played on the left side of a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Newhook, while J.T. Compher slotted in on the second line between Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi.

INJURY UPDATE

• Matt Calvert (upper body): Out long term
• Devan Dubnyk (COVID protocol): Was removed from the NHL COVID-protocol list on May 14 and continues to work on his conditioning after returning to team practices on Monday
• Pavel Francouz (lower body): Expected to return fully healthy next season after having surgery earlier this year
• Erik Johnson (upper body): Could return later in the postseason
• Logan O'Connor (lower body): Out long term after requiring surgery

SCOUTING THE BLUES

The Blues registered its only goal in Game 3 on the penalty kill, as Tyler Bozak finished off a feed from Ryan O'Reilly in the high slot. St. Louis is one of six teams--along with the Avalanche--to tally a short-handed marker in the postseason thus far. The team also went a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, the first game in the series the Blues' man-down unit hasn't allowed a power-play goal, improving to 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) in the set.
St. Louis' top two lines will look to get going offensively in Game 4, as O'Reilly, Ivan Barbashev, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz have combined for just four points (two goals, two assists) and a minus-28 rating in the first three matchups.

(AVS) PLAYER TO WATCH: PHILIPP GRUBAUER

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer has been a rock in between the pipes in the first three games in the first-round series, boasting a 3-0 record, 1.67 goals-against average and .944 save percentage. Among netminders who have played in three or more games in the 2021 postseason, Grubauer ranks tied for first in wins and second in both save percentage and goals-against average. He also sits in second in goals allowed, giving up just five markers in three games.
The Rosenheim, Germany, native has won seven of his last eight postseason contests and owns a 16-6-1 career mark, 2.35 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 25 starts. His 22 starts, 15 playoff wins and 2.08 goals-against average in an Avalanche sweater all rank second in team history (since 1995-96).

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: TOREY KRUG

Torey Krug has an abundance of experience when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, competing in two Stanley Cup Finals with the Boston Bruins and totaling 11 goals and 43 assists in 78 career postseason matchups. His 78 appearances in the playoffs are the third-most on the Blues, trailing only David Perron's 92 games and Jaden Schwartz's 87 contests.
In the 2021 playoffs, the defenseman has been one of the Blues' bright spots throughout the first-round series, as he is tied for the team lead in scoring with two assists. Krug is second on the squad in time on ice per game, averaging 23:48 in the first three contests, and has recorded the second-most shots (nine, tied) on the roster.

NUMBERS GAME

6+5

Colorado heads into 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 a perfect 5-0 all-time in playoff series when winning the first three games and 4-0 since moving to Denver.

13

Mikko Rantanen enters Sunday's contest on a 13-game postseason point streak, compiling six goals and 15 assists in a span that began in the 2020 playoffs. Rantanen has registered at least a point in each of the three matchups so far in the first-round series, registering five assists for the third-most points on the squad.

32x9

The Avalanche has received offensive production from both forwards and blueliners in the first-round series, as the squad's forwards have combined for 32 points and defensemen have totaled nine points through the first three games. The 32 points by forwards and nine points by defenders both rank tied for second in the league.

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche has earned a series sweep two times since the team moved to Denver in 1995-96, with both of those four-game series victories coming during the Stanley Cup Championship runs in 1996 and 2001… Gabriel Landeskog has notched at least a point in each of the first three contests of the series, collecting six points (one goal, five assists) over the stretch for the second-most on the roster. He has also found the scoresheet in nine of his last 11 postseason meetings… Brandon Saad has tallied a goal in two straight games and is tied with Joonas Donskoi for the second-most on the squad… The Avalanche has registered an empty-net goal in each of the first three contests, along with two such tallies in Game 2 for a total of four empty-net markers, the most in the NHL… Alex Newhook is the third player in franchise history to tuck his first career NHL goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is also the sixth-youngest player in Quebec/Colorado history to score his first career postseason goal, doing so at the age of 20 years and 113 days… The Avs hold a 2-1 record when visiting the Blues in the playoffs all time, averaging 4.00 goals for and 2.67 goals against in such matchups.