Rapid Recap: Avalanche 5, Blues 2 (Game 4)

The Colorado Avalanche swept its first-round series against the St. Louis Blues with a 5-2 win in Game 4 on Sunday at Enterprise Center. The Avs are advancing to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight year.
St. Louis' Vladimir Tarasenko scored the first goal of the game in the second period, but Brandon Saad and Gabriel Landeskog tallied before the second intermission and Mikko Rantanen found the back of the net early in the third to give Colorado a 3-1 lead.
Tarasenko hit twine again in the third stanza during a power play to cut the Blues' deficit to 3-2 before Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin each scored into an empty net to seal the win.

Colorado's top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen each had a goal and an assist to finish with a combined six points in the game.
Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves and had an assist in the outing to pick up his fourth straight victory in the postseason.
Colorado will face the winner of the Minnesota Wild-Vegas Golden Knights series in Round 2. Vegas currently holds a 3-1 lead in their first-round matchup.

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
4:25 STL (0-1) - Vladimir Tarasenko scored glove-side on a breakaway.
11:37 COL (1-1) - PPG, Brandon Saad tied the game with a shot from the slot that went top shelf.
14:53 COL (2-1) - Gabriel Landeskog tipped Samuel Girard's shot and it hit twine.
3rd Period
4:20 COL (3-1) - Mikko Rantanen scored five-hole on a rush up the ice with Nathan MacKinnon.
8:39 STL (3-2) - PPG, Vladimir Tarasenko cut St. Louis' deficit in half on the power play from the left circle.
19:04 COL (4-2) - EN-PPG, Nathan MacKinnon scored into an empty net from center ice.
19:54 COL (5-2) - EN-PPG, Valeri Nichushkin sent the puck into an empty net from the goal line.
Final: Avalanche - 5 | Blues - 2

3 STARS

Selected by St. Louis Media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 3 for 3
St. Louis: 1 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves and added an assist.
St. Louis: Jordan Binnington stopped 29-of-32 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Colorado swept its opening-round series of a playoff year after winning the Presidents' Trophy for the second time in franchise history (also 2001 Western Conference Quarterfinals versus Vancouver). Since the Presidents' Trophy was first handed out in 1985-86, only three winners of the award have also accomplished the feat: Edmonton (1986 Division Semifinals versus Vancouver), New York Rangers (1994 Conference Quarterfinals versus New York Islanders) and Dallas (1999 Conference Quarterfinals versus Edmonton). The Avs are the first team to accomplish the feat twice.
The Avalanche has advanced to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third-straight season. The last time the Avs got past the opening round three years in a row was when they did so in four consecutive campaigns from 1999-2002--the only other time the club has accomplished the feat in franchise history.

NOTEBOOK

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist and now has a point in all four of Colorado's playoff games this year, totaling one goal and six assists… Gabriel Landeskog scored and added a helper and also had a point in all four of the games against the Blues, increasing his postseason totals to eight (two goals, six assists)… Philipp Grubauer had an assist on Brandon Saad's tally, his second point in the playoffs with the Avalanche after he also had a helper in Game 2 of the 2019 Round 2 matchup against the San Jose Sharks… Brandon Saad scored for the third straight game… Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and a helper and now has nine points (six goals, three assists) in four games... Colorado scored three power-play goals on three opportunities and now has six man-advantage goals on 12 chances in four contests… The Avalanche is now 5-0 all-time in playoff series when holding a 3-0 series lead. This is the third time the club has swept such a series... The Avs have gone 22-14 in their 36 playoff series since arriving in Denver. Overall, the team is 28-23 in Colorado/Quebec franchise history.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Hockey Hugs!

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche used the same skaters as it did in Game 3, though Philipp Grubauer was backed up by Devan Dubnyk instead of Jonas Johansson. It was the first game that Dubnyk has dressed in this series after being in the NHL's COVID protocol from May 3-14.

INJURY UPDATE

• Alex Newhook (lower body): Left the game in the first period after being pushed into the boards and did not return
• Matt Calvert (upper body): Out long term
• 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

UP NEXT

The Avalanche will face the winner of the Minnesota Wild-Vegas Golden Knights series in Round 2. Vegas currently holds a 3-1 lead in their first-round matchup, with Game 5 scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MT on Monday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on 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
40 Devan Dubnyk