Avalanche Bury Blues In Four Straight, Await Second Round Opponent

DENVER (CBS4) -- How sweep it is!

The Colorado Avalanche are moving on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the St Louis Blues 5 -2 in Game 4 Sunday afternoon.

Colorado has advanced to the second round for a third straight season. They are the first club to advance in this year's postseason.

The Avs' top line was crucial in Sunday's win as Nathan Mackinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist. Brandon Saad and Valerie Nichuskin also scored and netminder Phillip Grubauer stopped 18 of 20 shots on goal.

The Avalance are just the fifth team in NHL history since the Presidents' Trophy was first handed out in 1985-86 to win the honor and sweep its opening-round series. They are the only franchise to do it twice (also did it in 2001).

The series sweep is the first for the Avs since the 2001 Western Conference Quarterfinals.

The Avs will play the winner of the Las Vegas Golden Knights-Minnesota Wild series. The Knights currently lead that series 3 -1.