On its fourth attempt, the Colorado Avalanche finally managed to reach the third round of the playoffs. Eliminated in the second round the previous three years, Nathan MacKinnon and company ended the St. Louis Blues’ run by scoring their game-winning goal with just 5.6 seconds remaining in the third period on Friday night.
Updated yesterday at 11:41 p.m.
Who gave the Avalanche the win, you ask? MacKinnon? Cale Makar? Mikko Rantanen? Gabriel Landeskog? Nazem Kadri?
Instead, it’s 15-year veteran Darren Helm. Yes, the former Detroit Red Wings still plays. When extra time seemed like a formality, Helm eluded the vigilance of Ville Husso, who had been very alert throughout the evening so far, with a shot into the upper part of the net. A painful defeat for the Blues and their supporters, but which surprised no one.
The Avalanche outshot the Avalanche 39-20 on Friday night. But curiously, all the players listed earlier, the best in the club, have been cleared. It was another support player who scored the Avalanche’s other two goals in their 3-2 win, JT Compher’s first two of the tournament.
PHOTO JEFF CURRY, USA TODAY SPORTS
Darren Helm scored with just 5.6 seconds left to earn the Colorado Avalanche their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.
Although Colorado controlled the action, it was the Blues who took the lead 1-0, then 2-1. If we had to compare Craig Berube’s team to a boxer, Bernard Hopkins would be that man. Calm, patient, resilient, good in defense, no great strength, but no great weakness either. Find a way to win, wear it out. As the Blues had done so well in Game 5 in Denver on Wednesday night. But the strategy did not work this time.
It was perhaps in the final minutes of the second period that the Blues let the victory slip away. Leading 2-1, they missed several great chances to score a third goal that could have shaken up a team that lost in the second leg in 2019 (to the San Jose Sharks), in 2020 (Dallas Stars ) and in 2021 (Las Vegas Golden Knights).
It is more precisely Jordan Kyrou who could have dealt a heavy blow to the Avalanche. Minutes after scoring his second goal, which had the effect of galvanizing a crowd that was particularly amorphous in a sixth game played on a Friday evening, Kyrou missed two golden chances.
PHOTO JEFF CURRY, USA TODAY SPORTS
The two teams exchange handshakes at the end of the match, the last of the series.
The young forward was initially unable to score even though Darcy Kuemper was out of his net while it was the valiant Josh Manson, who may have been the Avalanche’s best player, who improvised goaltending . A little later, Kyrou escaped alone in front of Kuemper, but shot over the goal. The 24-year-old is probably still thinking about those two games as you read this.
Kyrou adds a dimension of speed to a big, heavy team. Very dynamic, the former second-round pick hatched with a harvest of 75 points in 74 games in his first full season in 2021-2022. He is sure to be one of the Blues’ mainstays for years to come.
To a lesser extent, much the same can be said of Robert Thomas, who has just had his best season. It’s a longer progression than expected for him, but Thomas was very good in Games 5 and 6 of the series against Colorado.
1980s hockey
We can already tell you that the Western final will be focused on speed…
If there’s one forward in the NHL whose game looks a bit like Connor McDavid’s, it’s MacKinnon. Both players are able to carry the puck from one end of the ice to the other and to lodge it behind the opposing goaltender with disconcerting ease.
McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on one side, MacKinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, Kadri and Makar on the other. Two goalkeepers who come back from afar, Kuemper and Mike Smith. This series should be spectacular and exciting. It feels like we’re back in the 1980s with teams like the Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers playing open, offensive play like few others in the NHL.
Round 1 will be played Tuesday night (8 p.m.) in Denver. The NHL also announced that the Eastern Finals will begin on Wednesday night. The Tampa Bay Lightning will then visit the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Rangers, who will play Game 6 of their series Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The Hurricanes lead the series 3-2.