*Photo from the Columbia Missourian*
Colorado leads series 3-2
You didn't really think there was going to be two short series in the second round did you? Robert Thomas scored two goals, Tyler Bozak scored the winning goal, and the St. Louis Blues rallied to defeat the Colorado Avalanche with a 5-4 overtime victory on Wednesday night in Denver.
The Blues found themselves trailing by two goals entering the 3rd period, with their season on the line. They then scored 3 goals in the 3rd period, forcing overtime, and then won it in OT, keeping their season alive for one more game and forcing a game 6.
Bozak said of his goal that he "Just got a little bounce up top and saw lane to the net, and in overtime there's definitely no such thing as a bad shot. So just tried to get it through on the traffic and it went in. Obviously, feels great. Just a resilient group of guys. Got down and didn't want the season to be over and fought hard. Got some big goals late, and I was lucky enough to be on the end of the one in overtime. But it was awesome. We're excited for our next game."
Getting on the board first was the Avalanche, who took a 2-0 lead after the first period. First, it was Nathan MacKinnon, scoring 3:51 into the game, his 6th goal of the playoffs. MacKinnon then scored a power play goal with 1:37 left in the first, making it 2-0 with Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar picking up the assists.
In the second period, Gabe Landeskog scored for the Avalanche, widening their lead to 3-0 with his 6th goal of the playoffs, coming 4:02 into the second, assisted by MacKinnon and Devon Toews. Vladimir Tarasenko then got the Blues on the board, cutting the deficit to 3-1 at the 14:42 mark of the period.
In the 3rd period, Thomas scored 9:57 into the period, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Jordan Kyrou then tied the game 3-3 at the 15:14 mark of the 3rd, his 6th goal of the playoffs. After MacKinnon scored his 3rd goal of the night to give the Avalanche a 4-3 lead, Thomas tied it 4-4 with 56 seconds left in regulation. That set the stage for Bozak to win it 3:38 into the extra frame.
Blues head coach Craig Berube was already looking ahead, saying that "We're over with this game. That's over. Move on. Get ready for Game 6. MacKinnon had a heck of a game tonight. We all know that. Right from the get-go he was hard to handle. He'll be hard to handle again. We got to do a better job on him."
Getting the win in goal for the Blues was Ville Husso, back in the starter duties again. Husso saved 30 of the 34 shots that he was tested with by the Avalanche, posting a .882 save percentage as he won his first game of the series.
For the Avalanche, it was once again a healthy Darcy Kuemper in between the pipes. Kuemper couldn't close out the series in this game, stopping 25 out of the 30 shots on goal the Blues fired at him, recording a .833 save percentage in the loss.
Landeskog, Colorado's captain, said that "The first two periods, I thought we played really good. We got tight in third, and obviously they ramped up their desperation level, which is to be expected. They're playing for their season, and we just didn't get it done."
Up next, game 6 of the series is on Friday night as the series shifts back to St. Louis. There, the Avalanche will look to close out the series and advance in the playoffs, while the Blues look to force a game 7 and keep their season going.
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