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The Colorado Avalanche begins the 2021 Stanley cup playoffs with a seven-game series with the St. Louis blues tonight in Denver, CO, at Ball Arena. The Avalanche and Blues have not faced each other in a playoff series since May of 2001.
COLORADO AVALANCHE
The Avalanche needed to win five straight games to end the regular season to secure the fabled Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. That’s just what they did, outscoring their opponents 19-6.
Colorado will welcome the return of Nathan MacKinnon and Brandon Saad to the lineup. Saad hasn’t skipped a beat since coming over from the Chicago Blackhawks and will be a valuable net-front presence in this series. Nathan MacKinnon always has the potential to dominate a series with his elite foot and hand speed.
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky - Tyson Jost - Brandon Saad
Valeri Nichushkin - Nazem Kadri - Joonas Donskoi
Alex Newhook - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - J.T. Compher
DEFENDERS
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Samuel Girard - Ryan Graves
Patrik Nemeth - Conor Timmins
ST. LOUIS BLUES
The Blues come into the playoffs after securing the fourth and final playoff position in the Honda West Division. Early season struggles lead to a late-season playoff push this year in typical St. Louis fashion.
Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly spoke with confidence when asked about the matchup with the league’s winningest team stating, “We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to beat them.”
Ryan O'Reilly is calling series. #StanleyCup
— NHL (@NHL) May 15, 2021
The @StLouisBlues take on the @Avalanche in Game 1 Monday night at 10p ET on @NHLonNBCSports and @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/2vbyUTqayt
The Blues come into the playoffs after securing the fourth and final playoff position in the Honda West Division. Early season struggles lead to a late-season playoff push this year in typical St. Louis fashion.
Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly spoke with confidence when asked about the matchup with the league’s winningest team stating, “We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to beat them.”
FORWARDS
Jaden Schwartz - Ryan O’Reilly - Brady Schenn
Ivan Barbashev - Tyler Bozak - Vladimir Tarasenko
Mike Hoffman - Robert Thomas - Jordan Kyrou
Kyle Clifford - Zach Sanford - Sammy Blais
DEFENDERS
Tory Krug - Justin Faulk
Marco Scandella - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo
UPDATE: No Vince Dunn today
GOALTENDERS
Colorado will go with starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer in game one. Grubauer has had a Vezina caliber season, posting a GAA of 1.95 and .922 SV%. Grubauer’s impact on this playoff series could prove crucial, seeing as the Avalanche haven’t had an actual starter play in the playoffs in the last two appearances.
The Blues will go with Jordan Binnington in the net. Binnington has looked solid going into the playoffs, posting a GAA of 2.65 and .910 SV% in the 2020-21 regular season.