The Colorado Avalanche are now in complete control of their opening round Best-of-7 series with the Blues following Friday's 5-1 Game 3 win in St. Louis. What made the win extra special was where the scoring came from. After the top line put up 16 points and 6 of the 10 goals scored in the 1st 2 games, Game 3 saw scoring from basically everywhere else.
Defenseman Ryan Graves emerged from the penalty box in the 2nd period and immediately chased down a puck as it was being shuffled to goalie Jordan Binnington a bit outside the crease. Graves, who turned 26 Friday outraced the Blues net-minder, got his stick on the puck, flicked it toward the goal and it deflected off Binnington's stick and into the goal. Graves would add 2 more assists to make it a huge 3 points on his birthday, for a guy who's focus is often more on the defensive end.
The Avs other goals were scored by rookie center Alex Newhook, forward Brandon Saad, center Tyson Jost and an empty-netter with 53 seconds left from forward J.T. Compher.
For Newhook, it was his first goal of any kind in the NHL. He joined the team in March after completing his college season at Boston College. He said postgame he's finished up his schoolwork and can focus on hockey now. And added it was nice to get so much love after lighting the lamp for the first time.
Goalie Phillip Grubauer stopped all but 1 of the 32 shots he faced. And postgame head coach Jared Bednar heaped plenty of praise on Grubi, "I really liked him, I liked him all night, Bednar said, "I thought really strong down low…anything that came up high, he did a really good job with his glove.”
Bednar also said he liked how his team stayed composed despite the Blues playing with more aggression and physicality, "I liked our discipline tonight," he said, "Probably with the exception of Landy’s penalty at the end…I thought we were playing hard, not as physical as St. Louis, but we were on pucks…competing hard, making sure we were staying out of the box."
The Avalanche now have a chance to get the brooms out Sunday in St. Louis, and Bednar knows his team is aware of their opportunity to advance, and get some welcomed rest before the next round against the winner of Vegas and Minnesota. "It’s important, whenever you have a chance to eliminate a team, it’s always the hardest game to win. I think our guys understand it, you just get out of a series whenever you can. Guys understand the importance of the game..."