JORDAN BINNINGTON

APTOPIX Blues Avalanche Hockey St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) makes a save against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Denver. Ryan O'Reilly had a first-period goal and Jordan Kyrou tied it late for St. Louis. O'Reilly has a goal in five straight playoff games, matching the longest playoff goal streak in Blues history. Leading into the game, Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog, who's coming off late-season knee surgery, wasn't buying the rust argument. The Avalanche swept St. Louis in the playoffs last season.

Josh Manson scored 8:02 into overtime, Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in his return to the net from an eye injury, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Wild Blues Hockey St. Louis Blues celebrate after a goal against Minnesota Wild goalie Cam Talbot during the second period in Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Thursday, May 12, 2022, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas) (Michael Thomas)ST. LOUIS — (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in a dominant second period during which the Blues outshot the Wild 22-5 and took control of the game. Binnington helped the Blues overcome a shaky start in the first by erasing several quality Wild chances coming off turnovers. Bozak cleaned up a rebound off Alexei Toropchenko's shot to extend St. Louis' advantage later in the second.

Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Kaprizov has an NHL-leading seven goals in the playoffs, already a Wild record for a series. The Wild are 4 for 19 on the power play, and Kaprizov has three of the goals. The series returns to St. Louis for Game 6 on Thursday night. That gave the Wild a 2-1 edge, completing the first lead change in the series. ... Marian Gaborik, with nine goals in 18 games in 2003, holds the Wild scoring record for a single postseason.

Vladimir Tarasenko had three goals in the third period to break open a tied game and series, and the St. Louis Blues pushed the Minnesota Wild to the edge of elimination with a 5-2 victory in Game 5.

Wild Blues Hockey St. Louis Blues' Jordan Kyrou (25) celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in St. Louis. Binnington made 28 saves and the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Sunday to even the best-of-seven Western Conference series at two games apiece. Perron also had an assist for St. Louis. Game 5 is Tuesday night at St. Paul, Minnesota, before returning to St. Louis for Game 6 on Thursday. St. Louis struck first when Kyrou pounced on his own rebound just 4:19 into the game.

Wild Blues Hockey St. Louis Blues' Jordan Kyrou (25) celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in St. Louis. Ryan O'Reilly added a goal and two assists, and Perron also had an assist for St. Louis. Game 5 is Tuesday night at St. Paul, Minnesota, before returning to St. Louis for Game 6 on Thursday. St. Louis struck first when Kyrou pounced on his own rebound just 4:19 into the game. CONSISTENT SUCCESSMinnesota and St. Louis are two of just four teams to have made the playoffs nine times in the last 10 seasons.

Jordan Kyrou and David Perron each scored twice, Jordan Binnington made 28 saves in his first start this postseason and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 to even the best-of-seven Western Conference series at 2-2.

David Perron had a hat trick and an assist to lead the St. Louis Blues past the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Sidney Crosby and Evan Rodrigues scored 12 seconds apart in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied past the St. Louis Blues 5-3.

The St. Louis Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the host Minnesota Wild 6-4.

The Minnesota Wild are preparing to play in the NHL's Winter Classic for the first time.

A handful of NHL players are voicing frustration over the decision not to allow them to go to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Blues Jets Hockey Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) celebrates his goal against St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) during the second period of NHL hockey game action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. The NHL with seven teams north of the border must balance stricter COVID-19 regulations set by Canadian federal and provincial authorities. The CDC recommendation to trim quarantine time from 10 to five days prompted an NHL review of its virus protocols. “Right now it’s more, ‘Let’s protect, let’s secure and let’s close in and let’s do another confinement.’ ... “You’re always subject to what the Canadian government’s going to do, and you respect that and our Canadian teams know that,” AHL president and CEO Scott Howson told The AP on Tuesday.

Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell scored in a shootout, and the Florida Panthers continued their string of comebacks by rallying from three one-goal deficits to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3.

Landeskog tipped in a shot from Samuel Girard at 14:53 of the second period to break a 1-1 tie. Landeskog said the Avalanche used a pre-series boast from St. Louis captain Ryan O'Reilly as motivation. Tarasenko converted on a breakaway off a pass from O’Reilly for a 1-0 lead at 5:07 of the second period. FREEBIESThe Avalanche scored six empty-net goals in the series, including two in a 6-3 win in Game 2 and two on Sunday. OUT AGAINColorado C Nazem Kadri served the second game of an eight-game suspension after hit to Justin Faulk in Game 2.

Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves and Gabriel Landeskog scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to lift Colorado to a series sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 5-2 win in Game 4 of the West Division series.

Ryan Graves had a goal and two assists, Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 to take a 3-0 series lead in their first-round West Division matchup.

Nathan MacKinnon finished his first career playoff hat trick with an empty-net goal to help the Colorado Avalanche pull away late for a 6-3 win over St. Louis in Game 2 after the Blues avoided a pregame virus scare that nearly sidelined several players.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski)DENVER — (AP) — Game on for the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche after a coronavirus testing scare. The NHL said it had investigated multiple positive COVID-19 test results from the Blues and Vegas Golden Knights from the same laboratory. St. Louis is the only one of the 16 playoff teams with any players on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list. Blues forward Zach Sanford was on the protocol list March 20-21 before further testing revealed a false positive. One of those could be on Kuznetsov, who along with Samsonov also spent time on the protocol list from Jan. 20-Feb. 7 and said they had COVID-19 then.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski)The St. Louis Blues reported coronavirus testing problems to the NHL on Wednesday, hours before Game 2 of their first-round playoff series in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. Both teams were expecting to play the second game of their series after Colorado won the opener Monday night. The Blues took the ice for their pregame skate in Denver but canceled media sessions scheduled for coach Craig Berube and players. Blues forward Zach Sanford was on the protocol list March 20-21 before further testing revealed a false positive. The NHL began relaxing virus protocols last week for any team that had 85% or more of its traveling party fully vaccinated.

The NHL has cleared the St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights after virus testing errors.

CORRECTS TO SHOOTOUT, INSTEAD OF OVERTIME - St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) scores on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) in the shootout of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)LAS VEGAS – Missing all their coaches, Max Pacioretty and the Vegas Golden Knights still managed to earn a point. David Perron and Brayden Schenn scored in a shootout Tuesday to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over Vegas. Pacioretty got his seventh career hat trick for the Golden Knights, who were without their entire coaching staff because of COVID-19 concerns. The Golden Knights were 1 for 6 with a man advantage and are 3 of 26 (11.5%) this season.

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2019, file photo, St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, right, is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring a goal against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Denver. Tarasenko makes his return after early season shoulder surgery that limited him to three goals in 10 games. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Ditto for St. Louis, the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Blues and Avalanche were navigating through some key injuries before the season was halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The hiatus allowed time to heal and now the top two teams in the Western Conference return as Cup favorites. The two teams get things rolling Sunday in Edmonton by facing each other to kick off a round-robin tournament to determine seeding in the West. It should be a fun ride.Back on the ice for the Blues is forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who underwent shoulder surgery in late October.