Rapid Recap: Avalanche 7, Coyotes 1 (Game 4)

The Colorado Avalanche scored three times in the final six minutes of the first period and never looked back, defeating the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 in Game 4 of their Round 1 series on Monday afternoon at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The Avalanche leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.
Matt Nieto opened the scoring at 14:07 after the puck from a return pass by Matt Calvert went off his skate and in. Nazem Kadri scored two power-play goals soon after, both times knocking in a loose puck around the crease, and also added an assist in the outing for his first career three-point performance in the playoffs.

Joonas Donskoi extended the Avs' lead to 4-0 midway through the second period after tallying off a feed from Andre Burakovsky during a 2-on-1 rush.
Cale Makar, Matt Calvert and Mikko Rantanen scored in the third period for the Avalanche.
Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon each had two assists in the contest, while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Calvert, Ryan Graves, Erik Johnson, Makar and Rantanen also added helpers. The Avs outshot the Coyotes 30-15, with Philipp Grubauer making 14 saves.
Jakob Chychrun tallied the Coyotes' lone goal during a man advantage in the second period. Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 18-of-22 shots in the first two periods, while Antti Raanta stopped five shots in the final stanza.
The last time Colorado scored at least seven goals in a postseason game was on May 4, 2002 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals, defeating the San Jose Sharks 8-2. Monday's win against Arizona marked the ninth instance in which the Avalanche/Nordiques scored seven or more goals in the postseason and the fifth time since the franchise moved to the Mile High City.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Video: Coach Bednar
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Video: Calvert, MacKinnon & Nieto
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Video: Kadri & Makar

THE GOALS

1st Period
14:07 COL (1-0) - On a 2-on-1 rush, a return pass from Matt Calvert went off Matt Nieto's skate and fluttered into the back of the net to open the game's scoring.
16:07 COL (2-0) - PPG, Nazem Kadri tapped in a loose puck in the low slot after Mikko Rantanen's outside shot rebounded off goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Gabriel Landeskog also touched the puck as well to earn an assist.
19:39 COL (3-0) - PPG, Following Nathan MacKinnon's drive to the net, Nazem Kadri knocked in the ensuing rebound for his second tally of the game.
2nd Period
11:37 COL (4-0) - Joonas Donskoi scored on a 2-on-1 with Andre Burakovsky following a stretch pass by Nazem Kadri.
13:31 ARI (4-1) - PPG, Jakob Chychrun's shot from the right circle found the far-side top corner for the Coyotes' first man-advantage tally of the series.
3rd Period
0:19 COL (5-1) - Cale Makar streaked in from the neutral zone, danced around several Coyotes and scored with a backhand shot.
2:57 COL (6-1) - Matt Calvert tallied on a rebound in front following a shot by Nathan MacKinnon.
3:36 COL (7-1) - PPG, Mikko Rantanen tallied on a redirection from an Erik Johnson shot.
Final: Avalanche - 7 | Coyotes - 1

3 STARS

1. Nazem Kadri (COL): Three points, including the game-winner
2. Cale Makar (COL): Goal and assist
3. Mikko Rantanen (COL): Goal and assist

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 3 for 7
Arizona: 1 for 4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 14 of thee 15 shots he faced.
Arizona: Darcy Kuemper started and made 18 saves through the first two periods of play. Antti Raanta guarded the pipes in the third period, stopping 5-of-8 shots he faced in his first appearance of the playoffs.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The Kad Man Can: Nazem Kadri recorded his first career three-point game in the postseason with two goals and an assist in Game 4. Kadri's multi-goal effort was also a playoff first for him, and he now leads the team with four goals and nine points (tied) during the 2020 edition. His first tally stood as the game-winner, his third of the postseason.
Kadri has already set new personal bests this year for goals (four), assists (five) and points (nine) in a single playoff, doing so in only seven postseason games. He had 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in his 19 career playoff games prior to this season. Each of Kadri's four tallies have come during man-advantage situations, the first Avs player to tally four times on the power in a single playoff since Steve Konowalchuk in 2004.

NOTEBOOK

Colorado is now 25-18 in Game 4s during best-of-seven series all-time. NHL teams that hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series own an all-time series record of 278-29 (.906)… Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to seven games, becoming the seventh different player in franchise history to open a postseason with a streak of seven or more games. Peter Forsberg was the last Avalanche player to do so in 2004… Cale Makar scored his second goal of the playoffs and is just the fourth Avalanche/Nordiques rookie defenseman with multiple tallies in a single postseason, joining Bruce Bell in 1985 (2g/2a in 16 GP), Jeff Brown in 1987 (3g/3 in 13 GP) and Jon Klemm in 1996 (2g/1a in 15 GP)… Makar scored 19 seconds into the third period, the second fastest to start a period in franchise playoff history (Forsberg, 17 seconds in the 3rd on April 22, 1998 vs Edmonton)... Makar now has six points in the playoffs (2g/4a), matching his 10-game total from a year ago (1g/9a)… Andre Burakovsky had an assist and has tied his career high for scoring in the postseason with six points (2017 and 2018)… Gabriel Landeskog notched two assists and now has six this postseason, a new career high that surpasses his previous best of five assists during the 2018-19 playoffs... The Avalanche scored multiple goals on the power play for the second time this postseason (2-for-5, Aug. 5 at Dallas Stars).

QUOTABLE

Matt Calvert on the team's offense: "We had so many chances in Game 3 and obviously couldn't get a puck in the net," said Colorado forward Matt Calvert. "It was nice to see us get that early one, and we just kept going from there. A full team effort tonight obviously, and we were having some fun out there scoring some big goals."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

Mak-ing Goals Happen

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Just how they drew it up.

ROSTER REPORT

Philipp Grubauer started in net for the third time this series… Colorado began the contest by mixing up some of its defensive combinations. Samuel Girard was paired with Ian Cole, while Nikita Zadorov moved to the left side on a duo with Erik Johnson.

INJURY UPDATE

Vladislav Namestnikov missed his second-straight contest after getting hurt in the second period of Game 2 last Friday. Bednar said after the game that Namestnikov is stil day-to-day… Andre Burakovsky left early in third period after blocking a shot and did not return.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche looks to close out the series against the Coyotes on Wednesday in Game 5 of the First Round. The NHL announced earlier on Monday that the game's start time will be at 3:30 p.m. MT. It will be televised locally on Altitude Sports and nationally on NHL Network in the U.S. and Sportsnet 360 in Canada. The contest will be joined in progress on NBCSN at the conclusion of the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes Game 5.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 28 Ian Cole
16 Nikita Zadorov - 6 Erik Johnson
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer (starter)
39 Pavel Francouz (backup)