BLUES’ TYLER BOZAK SCORE IN OT TO AVOID ELIMINATION WITH COMEBACK WIN OVER AVALANCHE IN GAME 5.
Robert Thomas’ final minute goal in regulation gave way to Tyler Bozak’s game-winner.
The St. Louis Blues rallied from a three-point deficit to pull off a crucial overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of their second-round series on Wednesday night to keep their Stanely Cup hopes alive for at least one more game.
Tyler Bozak, the longtime Toronto Maple Leafs centre who helped the Blues capture their first Cup in 2019, fended off elimination for St. Louis with a slap shot from the blue line at 3:38 in overtime for the 5-4 victory.
“It was an amazing hockey game,” Bozak said. “I’m sure everyone that was watching thought the same thing.”
Bozak described his team as a “resilient group of guys” – a characteristic that was on full display Wednesday night.
After trailing 3-0 through the second period, Vladimir Tarasenko put St. Louis on the board first with his first goal of the playoffs. The Blues would trail again late in the third but Robert Thomas would force overtime with a clutch goal with just 56 seconds left in regulation time.
“You’ve got nothing to lose, you might as well throw it all out there,” Thomas said. “That was our mentality.”
The game looked grim for St. Louis early on after Nathan MacKinnon scored two early and unanswered goals for the Avs in the first period. Despite scoring his second hat trick of the postseason, MacKinnon said it didn’t matter: “Looking to get a win.”
“We got on our heels a little bit,” he said. “We wanted it so bad, I guess. … Win the third, go to the conference finals, whatever. It’s one period. Got to keep our game going, stay aggressive. That’s what we’ll do.”
The series heads back to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday night where the Blues are hoping to have the same type of resiliency.
