Colorado Avalanche finally move on to third round with late game winner from Darren Helm

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell(scotmaxw)
May 27, 2022, 23:41 EDT
Colorado Avalanche finally move on to third round with late game winner from Darren Helm
Credit: © Jeff Curry

The Colorado Avalanche have finally slayed their demons and advanced past the second round for the first time since 2002.

The pressure was on for the Avalanche after blowing a 3-0 lead in Game 5 to close out the series, as the doubts of their second round struggles began to creep in. But, they managed to overcome it with a late goal in Game 6, all thanks to the depth players.

It had all the makings of another cursed game for the Avalanche as well, with the Blues getting the 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the game from Justin Faulk and Jordan Kyrou, despite the Avs outshooting them quite favourably.

But the Avs always found a way to stay in the game. The stars weren’t quite the dominant forces they usually are, but that didn’t matter as J.T. Compher came to play. He scored both goals for the Avs, including the game tying goal midway through the third.

They also got some key saves, and not just from goalie Darcy Kuemper. Josh Manson came up huge with a save for the Blues that would have made the game 3-1 late in the second.

All of that set the stage for the dying seconds of the third period, as the Avs entered the zone, O’Connor threw the puck to the other side of the ice, and after a bounce off the boards, Helm wired it past Ville Husso and scored to give the Avs the win in the game, and the series.

Coincidentally, the goal comes 13 years to the day after Helm scored an OT winner for the Detroit Red Wings to send them to the Conference Finals.

It’s the first time since 2002 that the Colorado Avalanche have advanced to the Conference Finals, and the first time in this era of the Avs with Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar.

The Avs will go on to play the Edmonton Oilers in the third round, who advanced in a 4-1 series win over the Calgary Flames. It gives hockey fans a much anticipated matchup between MacKinnon and Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.

The Blues head into the offseason with just under $11 million in cap space for next season. David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Ville Husso are the biggest unrestricted free agents the Blues have to worry about, particularly after Husso’s breakout year in net, and Perron becoming a more proficient scorer since his one season with the Vegas Golden Knights.

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