Tyler Bozak scored at 3:38 of overtime, and the St. Louis Blues rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in Denver on Wednesday night to stay alive in the Western Conference semifinals.
Robert Thomas scored twice, Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Justin Faulk scored once, Nick Leddy had four assists and Pavel Buchnevich had two assists for St. Louis.
Ville Husso stopped 30 shots to help force Game 6 in the best-of-seven series on Friday night in St. Louis.
Nathan MacKinnon had a hat trick and an assist, Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal, Bowen Byram had two assists for the Avalanche, who blew a 3-0 lead on the night. Colorado’s Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves.
Bozak won it when he skated to the slot and fired a shot that beat Kuemper. It was his second career playoff overtime goal, with the other coming in 2017 for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals.
Colorado took a 1-0 lead when MacKinnon’s one-timer from between the circles beat Husso on the stick side at 3:51 of the first period.
MacKinnon made it 2-0 when his initial shot was saved by Husso and then bounced off his body and in on a power play at 18:23 of the first.
Colorado struck again early in the second period. Artturi Lehkonen won a faceoff in the St. Louis end, and MacKinnon tapped it back to Devon Toews, whose shot from the point was deflected by Landeskog past Husso at 4:02.
It was Landeskog’s sixth goal of the postseason.
The Blues got on the board when Tarasenko wristed a loose puck over Kuemper’s left shoulder at 14:42 of the second, his sixth goal of the playoffs.
St. Louis made it a 3-2 game in the third when Buchnevich fed Thomas for a one-timer at 9:57, his first tally of the postseason. The Blues tied it in the final five minutes of regulation when Faulk tipped in a rebound at 15:14, his first goal of the playoffs.
MacKinnon put the Avalanche back in front when he got the puck behind the Avalanche net, skated with it down into the Blues’ end, stickhandled around Leddy and roofed a forehand over Husso’s right shoulder at 17:14. It was his eighth goal of the playoffs.
Husso came off for an extra skater, and Thomas sent it to overtime at 19:04.
–Field Level Media
