Kadri Leads Avs To 6-3 Win Over Blues

Nazem Kadri let his play do the talking.

And he spoke loudly and clearly.

Kadri became the second Colorado Avalanche player to record a hat trick since 1998 and he helped the Avs defeat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3, in game four of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Colorado now holds a 3-1 series lead.

Kadri's big night came after he received racist death threats after game three. In that game, he collided with St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, who suffered a lower body injury on the play and will miss several weeks.

For the fourth straight game, St. Louis opened the scoring. David Perron gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 5:07 of the first period.

That advantage held into the second period when the Avs exploded for three goals in a span of 1:42 and four goals in 4:53.

Erik Johnson began the onslaught by going five-hole on Blues goalie Ville Husso on a shot from the outside. Kadri followed with his first goal of the night. Then Devon Toews got into the goal-scoring act.

Kadri scored his second goal of the game just after a 5-on-3 advantage expired. Kadri had given St. Louis forward David Perron a little bump and Perron and Pavel Buchnevich retaliated and each drew a penalty.

Leading 4-3 after two periods, Kadri finished off his hat trick with a big goal at 9:38 of the third period and gave the Avs a little breathing room. Mikko Rantanen added an empty net goal to cap the scoring.

MORE ON THE AVS WIN HERE

The Avalanche will try to wrap up the series in game five on Wednesday, May 25 at Ball Arena in Denver. Faceoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT.

Brandon Krisztal and Anthony Rodriguez break down the game on KOA's "On The Ice."

Postgame comments from Avs forward Nazem Kadri.

Postgame comments from Avs defenseman Erik Johnson (first to speak) and goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Postgame comments from Avs head coach Jared Bednar.