DENVER — Tyler Bozak scored 3:38 into overtime, and the St. Louis Blues rallied for a 5-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Wednesday.
Bozak won it with a slap shot from the point that went under the glove of Darcy Kuemper. His goal came after Robert Thomas tied it 4-4 with 56 seconds left in the third period on a rebound near the left post.
The Avalanche lead the best-of-7 series, 3-2. Game 6 will be at St. Louis on Friday.
“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,” Bozak said. “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.”
Thomas scored two goals, Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, and Nick Leddy had three assists for St. Louis, which is the No. 3 seed from the Central Division. Ville Husso made 30 saves.
“We’re over with this game. That’s over. Move on. Get ready for Game 6,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “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.”
Nathan MacKinnon had a hat trick and an assist, and Kuemper made 25 saves for Colorado, the No. 1 seed from the Central.
“The first two periods, I thought we played really good,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “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.”
[RELATED: Complete Avalanche vs. Blues series coverage]
Tarasenko made it 3-1 at 14:42 of the second period, shooting glove side from the left circle after Leddy’s shot was blocked in front.
Thomas scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to cut it to 3-2 at 9:57 of the third, and Jordan Kyrou tied it 3-3 at 15:14 when Justin Faulk jammed a rebound in the crease in off his stick.
“[Faulk] does everything for us out there,” Thomas said. “Great defensively, great offensively, plays the hard minutes, and it was awesome to see him get rewarded.”
MacKinnon put the Avalanche back in front 4-3 at 17:14 with a highlight-reel goal. He skated the length of the ice, made an inside-outside move on Leddy and roofed a shot from below the left circle that went in off the shoulder of Husso.
“Unbelievable individual effort to get around Leddy in there and then still be able to grab it to his forehand and put it up top,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s as pretty a goal as I’ve seen in a long time. It’s big. You got to have different guys stepping up different nights. People will be like, ‘Well, our top guys aren’t going enough,’ but we’re winning hockey games and different guys are stepping up. It was [Nazem Kadri] there (in Game 4). It was Nate tonight.”
Said Bozak, “Obviously, MacKinnon’s one of the best players in the league and makes plays in crucial moments and did it there, but we have great leadership on our team. We have a lot of guys who have won before, and we knew there was still lots of time. The guys got it done and got us to overtime, and then it’s anybody’s game when you get there.”
MacKinnon made it 1-0 at 3:51 of the first period, taking a pass from Artturi Lehkonen and scoring off the stick of Leddy from the slot. He then made it 2-0 at 18:23 when the rebound of his stuff attempt deflected in off the chest of Colton Parayko on the power play.
“It doesn’t matter,” MacKinnon said. “We got to move on like Gabe said and come back and win Game 6 on the road. It’s a fun opportunity for us. Hopefully everything happens for a reason, and we’ve got to go get this done. But it should make our team a little harder, a little more grittier in these situations. Can’t win every series in four and five. They have a great team, and we’re excited to go have a huge challenge in St. Louis and try to close out a series.”
Landeskog extended the lead to 3-0 at 4:02 of the second on a deflection.
NOTES: Bozak played 7:16. … Tarasenko has 60 career playoff points (41 goals, 19 assists), moving past Al MacInnis for third in Blues history. … MacKinnon has 36 career playoff goals, moving past Michel Goulet (34) and Milan Hejduk (34) for third in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. MacKinnon also passed Peter Stastny for third in Colorado/Quebec history with 82 postseason points.
