JORDAN BINNINGTON

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.