Victim of their first loss of this edition of the playoffs in the second game against the Blues, in the second round, the Colorado Avalanche quickly found their good habits, Saturday in St. Louis, defeating their opponents 5 to 2.

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It was ultimately a goal from Artturi Lehkonen that made the difference. In a two-on-one situation with Bowen Byram, the Finn preferred the shot to the pass and was right. The former Montreal Canadiens even added a second net, late in the third period, in an empty cage. He thus set a personal high for the most goals in a single playoff run, with four. He had scored three successes with the Habs in 2021.

Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and Logan O'Connor netted the other goals for the winners.

As for the Blues, Ryan O'Reilly continued his momentum. He first prepared the net for Colton Parayko, in the first period, before hitting the target himself, in the next engagement.

Binnington quitte...

In addition to losing the game, and thus trailing 2-1 in the series, the Blues lost the services of goalkeeper Jordan Binnington in the first period.

In a battle for the puck, in front of the crowd favorites net, Kadri and Calle Rosen collided, before falling on the masked man, who immediately writhed in pain. Binnington tried to get up to find sensations in his leg, but without success. He thus left after less than seven minutes of play, he who blocked the three shots he faced.

As a replacement, Ville Husso gave up four times on 23 shots. He was welcomed by O'Connor, who counted on the Avalanche's first pitch against the keeper.

At the other end of the rink, Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves.

Girard too

The Avalanche also lost an element of its formation in Samuel Girard. Less than two minutes of play had passed when the Quebec defender was hit behind his net by Ivan Barbashev. Girard's face hit the top of the boards hard and he immediately left the game, bloodied, after skating just 56 seconds.

The Avalanche later confirmed that he was transported to the nearest hospital for further testing, which revealed he had fractured his sternum, head coach Jared Bednar said. , at the end of the game. Girard will thus miss the rest of the playoffs.

The series will resume with Game 4 on Monday.