5:10 pm
May 23

Avalanche @ Blues

Who will WIN this matchup?

Colorado Avalanche (39-13-4)

@ St. Louis Blues (27-20-9)

 

Starting Goalies:

Philipp Grubauer (COL): Unconfirmed

Jordan Binnington (STL): Unconfirmed

 

Current odds:

Colorado Avalanche: (-172)

St. Louis Blues: (+139)

 

• The Colorado Avalanche will try to complete a first-round playoff series sweep when they visit the St. Louis Blues Sunday. “Whenever you have a chance to eliminate a team, it’s always the hardest game to win,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “Our guys understand it. You try to get out of the series when you have opportunities to do that.” The Avalanche have won the first three games of the best-of-seven series by the combined score of 15-5.

• The Avalanche will play without center Nazem Kadri, who will serve the second game of his eight-game NHL suspension for his blind-side head shot against Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in Game 2. Bednar moved J.T. Compher up to the second line to replace Kadri and added forward Carl Soderberg to the lineup. Compher iced Game 3 with an empty-net goal, and the Avalanche also got supporting cast goals from Alex Newhook, Brandon Saad, Tyson Jost and defenseman Ryan Graves in the 5-1 win on Friday.

• Meanwhile the Blues may be forced to deploy a makeshift defensive corps again, since Faulk, Robert Bortuzzo (head), Vince Dunn (upper body) and Jake Walman (COVID-19 protocol) are questionable after missing Game 3. Defensemen Steven Santini and Mitch Reinke, playing in their first playoff games, had to fill in.

• The Blues were more competitive on Friday night than they were in the first two games. They outshot the Avalanche 32-26 and kept Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon off the score sheet after he scored five goals and added two assists in the first two games of the series. “I don’t think the score represents the way the game went,” Bozak said. “I thought we created more than we have in the first two games. I thought we sustained a lot more time in the offensive zone and I thought we limited them a little bit, too.”

6/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Colorado Avalanche
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