Newhook Scores Key First NHL Goal in Avalanche's Game 3 Win

It took awhile to get the smile off Alex Newhook's face. It was probably as expected as he is living his dream of playing in the best league in the world and had just buried his first NHL goal.
"It popped out to me in the slot, and I saw a lot of net and was hoping I could put it in," said Newhook of the scoring sequence that will forever be engrained in his mind. "It was a big point in the game, so happy I could put that home and give us I think a two-goal lead."
Newhook's first career goal in the second period of Game 3 ended up as the game-winner as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Friday at Enterprise Center to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.

The rookie was only playing in his ninth career NHL contest, as he suited up in the final six of the regular season for the Avalanche after signing a three-year entry-level contract on March 31 following two years of NCAA hockey at Boston College.
For a young player entering the league, the first goal is among the milestones to look forward to. After making his debut on May 5 in San Jose and earning his first point with an assist two days later in Los Angeles, the next box to check off was finding twine for the first time.
On Friday, the only thing that Newhook had to do was not shoot wide as Ryan Graves fired the puck on net from the left side, and it rebounded off of goaltender Jordan Binnington's pad and right to the stick of Newhook.

"Definitely trying not to miss. A lot of net," the center said. "It was a great play by [Graves] to throw it off the pad there, and I was just hoping that I could put it in. Luckily, it went in."
While it might have seemed like an easy goal, the marker wouldn't have been possible without him leading a rush up the ice to create offensive-zone pressure moments earlier.
"Big goal, huge goal," said head coach Jared Bednar. "Does the right thing right away, coming on to the puck out of the D-zone, gets a pass, finds some open ice, looks to make a pretty nice play over to Val. Then stays with it and comes to the net on the weakside and gets a rebound.
"It's a big goal. I'm happy for him because I think he can gain some confidence from that. He's been getting a little better every game, and you start to see flashes of his skill."
Newhook is the first Avalanche player to score his first career NHL goal in a postseason game since Cale Makar did it in his debut on April 15, 2019 in Game 3 of the Round 1 series against the Calgary Flames.
From St. John's, Newfoundland, Newhook is one of 30 players from the province to play in the NHL and is now one of 12 to score in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The last Newfoundland-born player to do so was Teddy Purcell with the Florida Panthers Game 1 and 4 of the 2016 first round.

When Newhook returned to the bench following the marker, his smile still intact, he was met with more celebrations from his teammates, who shared in the 20-year-old's joy of potting one.
"Everyone was coming up to me and congratulating me, it's a pretty cool feeling," Newhook said. "[Pierre-Edouard Bellemare], he told me that, I wish that someone had him on video for his celebration on the bench."
Said Graves: "First of all, very excited for him. It's an awesome feeling for him. I know how excited I was for my first, so congrats to him, it's awesome… Another big goal for us."
That tally really helped get the Avs' offense revving in the middle frame--one of three scored in the period--and dig a deeper hole for the Blues to climb out of. Colorado is now one win away from advancing to the second round of the postseason, with the team sporting a 4-0 all-time record when winning the first three games of a best-of-seven series.

GRAVES GIVING PRESENTS

Defenseman Ryan Graves celebrated his 26th birthday on Friday by tallying a goal and adding two assists for his first career multi-point outing in the playoffs.
"In my game it's defense first, penalty kill, just trying to shutdown top lines," Graves said. "Points are kind of a secondary thing for me, but obviously when you can chip in when you can and help the team out, it's huge. Fortunate bounces on a couple of them."
Graves opened the game's scoring as he chased after the puck in the Blues zone after being released from the penalty box following his and Ivan Barbashev's matching minors. He had the benefit of the "long change" in the second period and was able to get to the puck first, also beating out goaltender Jordan Binnington, who came out of his crease to play it as well. The blueliner got the best of keeper and was able to knock it into the open cage from the left circle.

"That's kind of the stuff that you're in the box that you're thinking about, you're just dreaming that it's going to come out to [you], it's wishful thinking that it's coming out that way." Graves said of his second career playoff goal. "It was a big goal for us, and I'm just happy that I could be able to finish it, get us an early lead to get us going."
The Yarmouth, Nova Scotia native now has four points (two goals, two assists) in three games in these playoffs. Game 3 marked his second career three-point outing (regular season or playoffs), with his previous coming on Nov. 7, 2019 versus the Nashville Predators. His plus-4 rating was also a career best.

The last Avalanche defenseman to have a three-point contest in the playoffs was Cale Makar (three assists) on Aug. 26, 2020 in Game 3 of the second round against the Dallas Stars.
Graves also became the third player in franchise history to score a playoff goal on his birthday, joining Michel Goulet (Game 2 1985 division final) and Bob Bassen (Game 1 of 1995 conference quarterfinals).
"I don't remember the last time I've had a hockey game on my birthday," he said. "Last year we were in quarantine, so it was better than that one, for sure."

KADRI SUSPENDED

The National Hockey League announced during the first intermission that forward Nazem Kadri has been suspended for eight games for an illegal check to the head from Game 2 against the Blues. Kadri did not dress in Friday's contest as he was awaiting the decision from his in-person Zoom hearing with the NHL Department of Safety, which was held on Friday.
"It is what it is. We have to deal with it, and we need other guys to step up. I'm not going to worry about it past today," said head coach Jared Bednar of the verdict. "We have to live with the decisions that they (department of player safety) make, and they make them for a reason, and we don't always have to agree. It's their decision and you got to live with it. He put himself in a bad spot on the hit, and now he has to sit for awhile. We're going to have to have other guys step up in order to win hockey games."
Kadri had been suspended five times previously, all during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has been with Colorado since being acquired in a trade on July 1, 2019.
If the Avalanche wins its first-round series, Kadri could possibly return later in Round 2 or in the league semifinals after he's served his time.. The suspension also could carry over to the 2021-22 regular season as well if there are still games remaining.

WELCOME CARL

With Kadri out, Carl Soderberg came into the lineup, dressing in his first playoff outing of the year and first game since May 10 at the Vegas Golden Knights.
"We all dream about winning. It's all about winning," Soderberg said after morning skate about taking part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "We have a good lead right now, try and get the next game. I haven't played so far, but I'm obviously very excited to get in tonight. It will be a lot of fun."
The forward was on a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Newhook, with J.T. Compher moving up to Kadri's previous spot on the second line with Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi.
"Trying to leave the lineup as similar as I possibly can," Bednar said of his lineup decisions. "[Compher] is a guy that has played in that role before, centerman that has been playing on the wing, but just trying to keep a lot the same. I feel like some of the other lines have found some chemistry, so put him in there and see how it goes."
Soderberg had an assist in the contest, helping on Brandon Saad's marker in the third period that extended Colorado's lead to 4-1.

MORE POSTGAME NOTES

The Avs have outscored the Blues by a combined 15-5 through three outings, and Colorado's 15 goals and 5.00 goals per game are the most in the playoffs so far.
Mikko Rantanen extended his playoff point streak to three games and has totaled five points (all assists) so far. He has tallied a point in 13-straight postseason contests dating back to the 2020 playoffs, registering 21 points (six goas, 15 assists) in that span.
Gabriel Landeskog extended his postseason point streak to three games. He has notched six points (one goal, five assists) through Colorado's first three matchups against the Blues.
Brandon Saad scored his second goal of the playoffs, tied with Joonas Donskoi for second on the team. It was his 20th career postseason tally.