Rapid Recap: Avalanche 5, Blues 1 (Game 3)

The Colorado Avalanche leads the best-of-seven series against the St. Louis Blues 3-0 after winning Game 3 by a 5-1 score on Friday night at Enterprise Center.
This is the fifth time in franchise history that the Avs have taken a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs, with the last time being in the 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Stars. Colorado was 4-0 in those previous series.

Ryan Graves had a goal and two assists for the Avs, while rookie Alex Newhook tallied his first career NHL goal. Tyson Jost, Brandon Saad and J.T. Compher also scored for Colorado.
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche scored three times in second frame to jump out to a lead before Tyler Bozak scored shorthanded to break up the run. It was the only shot that got past goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who finished with 31 saves.
Saad and Compher (empty net) added tallies late in the third period to seal the win.

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
1:57 COL (1-0) - After coming out of the penalty box, Ryan Graves beat Blues goalie Jordan Binnington to the puck and scored into an open net from the left circle.
12:37 COL (2-0) - Alex Newhook scored his first NHL goal after Ryan Graves' shot rebounded right to him and he buried the shot into a gaping cage.
16:08 COL (3-0) - Tyson Jost gathered his own rebound and tallied from the goal line while on his knees.
16:17 STL (3-1) - SHG, Tyler Bozak scored shorthanded with a one-timer off 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, stickhandled to his backhand and scored in the crease.
19:06 COL (5-1) - ENG, J.T. Compher cleared the puck off the side boards and the puck slid the length of the ice and into the empty net.
Final: Avalanche - 5 | Blues - 1

3 STARS

Selected by St. Louis media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 4
St. Louis: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 31-of-32 shots.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 25 shots faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Rookie Alex Newhook scored his first career NHL goal in the second period and became the sixth-youngest player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to tally his first career playoff goal behind 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, doing so on April 15, 2019 in Game 3 of the Round 1 series against the Calgary Flames.

NOTEBOOK

Birthday boy Ryan Graves, who turned 26 years old, now has four points in three games in these playoffs after recording his first career multi-point postseason contest in Game 3… Graves became the third player in franchise history to score a playoff goal on his birthday, joining 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 challenged for goaltender interference with 3:52 left in the second period, but the goal was upheld and the Blues were charged with a delay of game penalty… Brandon Saad scored his 20th career playoff goal.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Not No. 4 Bobby Orr

ROSTER REPORT

Carl Soderberg played his first playoff game of the year, replacing Nazem Kadri in the lineup. Soderberg played on the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Newhook. J.T. Compher moved to Kadri's previous spot on the second line with Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi. Kadri was serving the first of an eight-game suspension for an illegal check to the head in Game 2--the NHL announced the punishment during the first intermission.

INJURY UPDATE

• Matt Calvert (Upper Body): Out long term, last played on March 23 at Arizona
• Devan Dubnyk (COVID protocol): Was removed from NHL COVID protocol last Friday, May 14, and has skated with the team in practices since Monday's morning skate
• Erik Johnson (Upper Body): Could return later in the playoffs, out since getting hurt on Jan. 30 at Minnesota
• Logan O'Connor (Lower Body): Out long term after having surgery, last played on March 31 vs. Arizona
• Pavel Francouz (Lower Body): Expected to return fully healthy next season after having surgery earlier this year, hurt during practice on Jan. 18

UP NEXT

The Avalanche and Blues meet in an afternoon affair in St. Louis on Sunday for Game 4, with puck drop set for 3 p.m. MT. If necessary, the series returns to Denver for Game 5 on Tuesday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
20 Brandon Saad - 17 Tyson Jost - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
34 Carl Soderberg - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 18 Alex Newhook
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 27 Ryan Graves
24 Patrik Nemeth - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
35 Jonas Johansson