COLTON PARAYKO

The St. Louis Blues have taken another step in keeping their top young players in the fold long term.

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 in Game 3 of their second-round series.

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.

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.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff 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.

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.

So when St. Louis Blues players Alexander Steen and Colton Parayko paid a visit to the team's most famous fan, Laila Anderson, it was out of gratitude for her unwavering support. But that didn't stop her from becoming the inspiration for the Blues' Stanley Cup run, during which she revved up the crowd and rallied the team. But she never could have imagined getting her own championship ring from Steen and Parayko, with more than 300 diamonds and sapphires, her name inscribed inside. "That poor guy who's going to propose to you one day," Parayko said. It's a rare moment when the barrier between athlete and fan disappears.