Colorado Avalanche Sweep St. Louis Blues In 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Draft Utopia

Colorado Avalanche Sweep St. Louis Blues In 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Lisa Donovan Posted on 5/23/2021.

Neither team scored in the first period. Vladimir Tarasenko gave St. Louis Blues fans hope after he scored on a wrist shot thanks to a pass by St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly.

Colorado gained the lead thanks to two goals by their two best left wingers. Brandon Saad, the second line left winger tied the game at 1-1 on a power play goal thanks to an assist by defenseman Cale Makar who happens to be the best overall defender on Colorado. Gabriel Landeskog the first line left winger and team captain scored on a tip in after defenseman Samuel Girard and first line right winger Mikko Rantanen passed the puck to Landeskog where he scored on a tip-in. Colorado led 2-1 after two periods of play.

Colorado's first line which features Gabriel Landeskog at left wing, Nate MacKinnon at center, and Mikko Rantanen at right wing absolutely dominated this blue line without Alex Pietrangelo by scoring again to make it a 3-1 game. Vladimir Terasenko scored again to make it a 3-2 game. Nate MacKinnon put the game away with an unassisted goal. Valeri Nichushkin the third line left winger on Colorado scored an empty net goal to give Colorado a 5-2 win.

Colorado is the first team in the NHL to advance to the second round. They were the first team in the Western Conference to advance to the second round two years ago in 2019. Now this Colorado Avalanche team has a lot more experience after two heartbreaking seven game series losses to the San Jose Sharks in 2019 and the Dallas Stars in 2020.

Colorado will host the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round barring three consecutive wins by the Minnesota Wild in games 5, 6, and 7. Colorado and Vegas tied for the most NHL points during the regular season, but Colorado won more games in regulation which gave the Avalanche home ice.