Game 3: Avalanche 5, Blues 2 | Colorado leads 2-1
Who was The Guy? Blues fans aren’t going to like this, but — to borrow a phrase from the great Jeremy Rutherford — the guy of the night was Nazem Kadri. Was Kadri’s Game 3 impact 100 percent wholesome? Not quite. Was it immense and undeniable? You bet.
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We’ll start with the obvious. Kadri accidentally on purpose bowled over Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in the first period, knocking St. Louis’ prodigal starter from the game. Binnington, who had been quite good since taking over for Ville Husso in the first round, left with an obvious lower-body injury. Husso came in and quickly allowed a goal to Logan O’Connor — which might have been on an offside play after Josh Manson knocked down an airborne puck near the St. Louis blue line, but that’s another story.
You can be the judge here, and it really is an eye-of-the-beholder situation. The puck was nearby, and Kadri got the worst of the collision with St. Louis’ Calle Rosen, but … it’s Nazem Kadri and it’s the playoffs. The track record counts for something. Tough to say for certain, either way. That’s not meant as a cop-out, either. I was on Team He Did It Deliberately until I watched the replay a few more times.
Ville Husso is now in between the pipes for the @StLouisBlues after Jordan Binnington left with an injury on the play below. ⤵️#stlblues pic.twitter.com/8oaGHdPHH2
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 22, 2022
The rest of the game brought more of the skill/pain-in-the-ass combo platter from Kadri. In the second period, he broke the 1-1 tie on a redirected shot by Cale Makar. A few minutes later, he put Colorado up 3-1 with a slick pass off the boards to spring Artturi Lehkonen.
Later in the game, he ripped Jordan Kyrou’s stick out of his hands and carried it with him, as Rutherford said, “for a half-mile.”
Nazem Kadri yoinks Kyrou's stick straight out of his hands in front of the referee on the side boardspic.twitter.com/bfYbJg7IqD
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) May 22, 2022
Like it or not, Kadri carried Colorado to a 2-1 series lead, as well.
What was the key? The last three minutes of the second period. Brayden Schenn should’ve gotten an assist on Lehkonen’s goal; he missed high on a prime chance against Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper and started the sequence. In the final 30 seconds, Ryan O’Reilly cut Colorado’s lead to 3-2 a few seconds before Kuemper made a point-blank save on Brandon Saad. It was a chaotic stretch, but the result was the same; the Avs held a one-goal lead, and they’d never relinquish it.
Brayden Schenn's diving chance goes over the net, allowing Nazem Kadri to spring Artturi Lehkonen who snipes one past Husso to push the Avalanche lead to 2!#STLBlues
(Game 3, Series Tied 1-1) pic.twitter.com/fNRw3zbY6Q— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) May 22, 2022
Key stat: 0.68. That’s the difference in all-situations expected goals percentage between the teams in this game, per Natural Stat Trick. Doesn’t get any closer than that. It’s a nice, tidy way to sum up the series so far. St. Louis won, for whatever that’s worth, 50.34 to 49.66.
Moment it was over: After Gabriel Landeskog scored to make it 4-2 Colorado with 2:08 left, Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko had a prime chance along the goal line that Kuemper handled. That, well and truly, felt like the end. Kuemper finished with 26 saves on 28 shots.
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Moment of the game: Binnington’s exit. He’d allowed just nine goals on 176 shots since starting Game 4 against Minnesota, giving him a .949 save percentage. Husso came in cold and allowed a quick one, finishing with 19 saves on 23 shots. Binnington is being evaluated for a lower-body injury, but like we said, it doesn’t look good. He tested his leg on the ice with the Blues’ trainer, and he wasn’t happy with the results.
If it’s Husso’s net from here on out, that’d be a big enough story; he was benched for a reason. Factor in the specifics surrounding Binnington’s injury — the guy who was primarily responsible, the way it happened and the nature of the rest of the game — and it gets only more important. Avs coach Jared Bednar defended Kadri, comparing it to Ivan Barbashev’s first-period hit on Sam Girard that sent the Avs defenseman to the hospital. Blues coach Craig Berube blamed Kadri. It’s the sort of thing that turns playoff series into something more.
To wit: Binnington apparently threw a water bottle at Kadri after the game during Kadri’s TNT interview. Alrighty then.
"Not sure if he just threw a water bottle at me" 😳
Nazem Kadri appears to have a water bottle thrown at him while discussing the collision with Binnington 🔎 pic.twitter.com/6XLbAdxEEm
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 22, 2022
Avalanche worry meter: 🙃🙃 … They haven’t been great, but a lead is a lead.
Blues worry meter: 😬😬😬 … They’re a better matchup against the Avs than a lot of folks thought, but a 2-1 deficit without the hot hand in net seems like it’ll be an issue.
— Sean Gentille
Three stars
On tap for Sunday
• Florida at Tampa Bay, 1:30 p.m. ET (Lightning lead 2-0)
• Carolina at N.Y. Rangers, 3:30 p.m. ET (Hurricanes lead 2-0)
• Calgary at Edmonton, 8 p.m. ET (Series tied 1-1)
(Photo of Nazem Kadri and Ville Husso: Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)