Avalanche roll, push Blues to brink
Grubauer stars again; Colorado goes up 3-0
ST. LOUIS — Ryan Graves had a goal and two assists, Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche used a three-goal second period to beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Friday and take a 3-0 series lead in their first-round West Division matchup. Alex Newhook scored his first NHL goal, and Tyson Jost, Brandon Saad and J.T. Compher also scored for the Avs, who can cap a series sweep Sunday in Game 4 in St. Louis. Tyler Bozak scored for the Blues, and Jordan Binnington stopped 21 shots. Before the game, the NHL suspended Avs center Nazem Kadri eight games for elbowing Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in the head in Game 2. He played in all 56 regular-season games, totaling 11 goals and 21 assists while leading the team in faceoff wins. Graves broke a scoreless tie at 1:57 of the second period. After getting out of the penalty box, he beat Binnington in a race for a loose puck in left circle and chipped it in the empty net. Newhook made it 2-0, burying a rebound off a slap shot by Graves with 7:23 left in the second.
■ Bruins 4, Capitals 1: At Boston, David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored 34 seconds apart in the third period’s opening minutes to back Tuukka Rask, who had 19 saves, as Boston took a 3-1 series lead. After three straight overtime games in which neither team mustered a two-goal lead, the Bruins went up 2-0 on Pastrnak’s power-play goal 29 seconds into the third period. Coyle connected on the next shift. Alex Ovechkin scored for Washington with 15 minutes left, his first goal of these playoffs and his 71st in the postseason, moving him past Steve Yzerman for the 16th-most in league history.
■ Jets 1, Oilers 0, OT: At Edmonton, Alberta, former Golden Knight Paul Stastny scored at 4:06 of overtime to give Winnipeg a 2-0 series lead. Stastny’s screened wrist shot beat goaltender Mike Smith high to to the right corner. Smith stopped 35 shots, and Connor Hellebuyck had 38 saves for the Jets.
■ Predators 5, Hurricanes 4, 2OT: At Nashville, Tenn., Matt Duchene scored at 14:54 of the second overtime, cutting Nashville’s series deficit to 2-1. Ryan Ellis had a goal and two assists for the Predators to back Juuse Saros, who had his first career assist and tied the franchise record with 52 saves. Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists for Carolina. Oilers captain Connor Mcdavid and teammate Leon Draisaitl — the NHL’S top two scorers — have been held off the scoresheet in the first two games.