3 Keys: Blues at Avalanche, Game 5 of Western Second Round

(3C) Blues at (1C) Avalanche
8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS
Avalanche lead best-of-7 series 3-1

The Colorado Avalanche will try to advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time in 20 years when they host the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday.
Colorado has not gotten past the second round of the playoffs since 2001-02, when they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the conference final.
Center Nazem Kadri had his first Stanley Cup Playoff hat trick and goalie Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves to help Colorado defeat St. Louis 6-3 in Game 4 on Monday. The Avalanche are prepared for the Blues to bring everything they can to try and avoid elimination.
"We know they're going to be desperate, probably going to be their best game of the series," Colorado defenseman Jack Johnson said. "It just gets harder and harder as you go along and we're expecting that. We're going to have to play great tonight to get to where we want to be."
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Blues series coverage]
Blues defenseman Marco Scandella is expected to return after leaving in the first period of Game 4 of the Western First Round against the Minnesota Wild with a lower-body injury.
"Just go out there and play a hard game, win my 1-on-1 battles. Nothing special," Scandella said on what he expects from himself. "It's do-or-die tonight, so just play a hard, simple game. That's what I'm going to bring."
Teams that hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series hold a record of 296-31 (.905), including an 0-1 mark in the 2022 first round.
Here are 3 keys to Game 5:

1. Keep stopping MacKinnon

St. Louis has done a good job of stifling Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, who has three assists in four games after he scored five goals in four games against the Nashville Predators in the first round.
Much of that responsibility has been on the forward line of left wing Brandon Saad, center Ryan O'Reilly and right wing David Perron, and the Blues know that work must continue if it's going to stay alive in this series.
"He has tremendous speed and ability to transport the puck up the ice," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said of MacKinnon. "But everybody that's out there and it's O'Reilly's line and [defenseman Colton] Parayko and [Nick] Leddy most of the time, they've got real good awareness around them and they're doing a good job covering their own zone, stopping, taking away his options. It's hard, but they're working extremely hard and doing a good job."

2. Good showing from Byram

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was happy with Bowen Byram in Game 4, when the defenseman had two assists in Colorado's win. Bednar would like to see more of that from the 20-year-old, who has taken more on with defenseman Sam Girard out for the rest of the playoffs with a broken sternum sustained in Game 3.
"He has to take on a bigger role, more importance on getting involved in the play offensively," Bednar said. "He's done a really nice job of it, jumping in on the power play, all of the above. It's just rounding out his full, complete game. I'd like to see him do it all the time, even with Girard in, and that's part of it. You have to get to your identity as a player and play to your strengths within the system we play, but he's done a nice job elevating his game since Girard's been out."

3. Blues believing in Husso

Ville Husso will start his second consecutive game in goal for St. Louis after starter Jordan Binnington sustained a lower-body injury in the first period of a 5-2 loss in Game 3. Husso started and allowed five goals on 36 shots in the Blues' Game 4 loss, but Berube said he didn't consider starting backup Charlie Lindgren, who has never played in a Stanley Cup Playoff game.
During the regular season, Husso was 25-7-6 with a 2.56 goals-against average, .919 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 games (38 starts), virtually splitting time with Binnington, who was 18-14-4 with a 3.13 GAA, .901 save percentage and two shutouts in 37 starts.
"I don't believe Husso's lost his confidence," Berube said. "He knows he has to play better, as our team has to play better in front of him. It goes both ways, you know? But I think Husso's very confident."

Blues projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Ivan Barbashev -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Alexey Toropchenko -- Tyler Bozak -- Nathan Walker
Nick Leddy -- Colton Parayko
Marco Scandella -- Justin Faulk
Niko Mikkola -- Robert Bortuzzo
Ville Husso
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Logan Brown, Calle Rosen, Scott Perunovich
Injured: Jordan Binnington (lower body), Torey Krug (lower body)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Artturi Lehkonen
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nazem Kadri -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Newhook -- J.T. Compher -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Andrew Cogliano -- Darren Helm -- Logan O'Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Jack Johnson -- Josh Manson
Bowen Byram -- Erik Johnson
Darcy Kuemper
Pavel Francouz
Scratched: Nico Sturm, Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Murray, Kurtis MacDermid, Hunter Miska
Injured: Samuel Girard (sternum)

Status report

Landeskog and Toews did not participate in the Avalanche morning skate Wednesday because of maintenance but each is expected to play.