Berube rips Blues-Avalanche refs: 'So one-sided, it's not even funny'

Craig Berube is resorting to a familiar tactic as his team sits on the brink of being swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The St. Louis Blues head coach criticized the officiating following a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche that gave the victors a 3-0 lead in their first-round series Friday night.

"Every game, we get one or two calls. It's usually late in the third period. They're getting (four or five per game)," Berube said. "(It shouldn't be) that lop-sided. I'm not sure why we don't get the calls that we deserve."

Berube was particularly perturbed about a perceived missed call involving Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, which would have ultimately prevented the Avalanche from netting a goal.

"Parayko gets tripped in the corner. (The Avalanche) go down (and) score a goal ... he gets slew-footed, and they don't call it, and it cost us a goal," Berube said. "It's terrible. It's so one-sided, it's not even funny."

The St. Louis bench boss called out the officiating during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, saying after a 7-2 loss in Game 3 that the Blues were "the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds (and) now all of the sudden we've taken 14 penalties in one series." Berube's team then won three of the next four games to claim the championship in seven.

Game 4 of the Blues-Avalanche series is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.