Avalanche center Nazem Kadri, who was the subject of racist attacks and threats following his injurious collision with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in Saturday’s Game 3, tallied a hat trick in Colorado’s 6-3 Game 4 win on Monday night, pushing St. Louis to the brink of elimination.
Kadri scored two goals in the second period during an Avalanche rally that saw them tally four goals in 4 minutes and 53 seconds for a 4-1 lead at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The second of those goals came right after a Colorado 5-on-3 power play that Kadri drew, after Pavel Buchnevich hit him after the whistle and David Perron cross-checked him to the ice.
He completed the hat trick at 9:38 of the third period, beating goalie Ville Husso and extending the Colorado lead back to two goals after the Blues had cut it to 4-3. Kadri later assisted on Mikko Rantanen‘s empty-netter for a four-point night.
“I know some of those messages I got doesn’t reflect every single fan in St. Louis,” Kadri said after helping Colorado take a 3-1 lead in its second-round playoff series. “But for those that hate, that was for them.”
Husso started Game 4 after Binnington suffered a lower-body injury just six minutes and 45 seconds into the first period of Game 3, when Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen crashed into Binnington chasing a loose puck.
There was no penalty called on Kadri on the play. The NHL Department of Player Safety determined there was no supplemental discipline necessary for him.
After Game 3, Blues coach Craig Berube questioned Kadri’s role in the injury.
“Look at Kadri’s reputation. That’s all I’ve got to say,” he said of Kadri, who has multiple postseason suspensions, including an eight-game ban for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk in the 2021 playoffs.
Kadri said Berube’s comments were part of his motivation.
“He made some comments that I wasn’t a fan of,” Kadri said. “I guess he’s never heard of bulletin-board material.”
On Sunday, hockey player Akim Aliu tweeted that he had spoken to Kadri and that the Avalanche center “has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in.”
Aliu and Kadri are founding members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, an organization of current and former hockey players of color that is seeking to eradicate racism from the game.
Kadri, a Muslim of Lebanese descent, acknowledged he’s been dealing with racial slurs for much of his life.
“I’m getting good at just putting it in the rearview mirror,” he said. “It’s a big deal. I try to act like it’s not, and I just keep moving forward.”
Colorado issued a statement to the media on Sunday that said “the Avalanche organization is aware of threats made toward Nazem Kadri and is working with local law enforcement to investigate.”
Aliu told ESPN that Kadri felt unsafe at the Avalanche’s team hotel in St. Louis, partially due to social media threats. Aliu said there had to be additional police stationed in front of the hotel due to these threats.
Game 5 of the series is Wednesday night in Colorado, where the Avalanche will seek to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2002.
Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.