With their backs against the wall, the St. Louis Blues delivered. Facing a 3-0 deficit in the second period on the brink of elimination, the Blues mounted a historic comeback to take Game 5 in Colorado and keep their season going.
The line of Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko totalled six points on the night (including all three on Thomas' late equalizer). The line, that saw incredible success during the regular season, has had a slow start to the playoffs but were able to break through Monday night when needed most.
Though a scoring adjustment reassigned one away from him, Nick Leddy gave a standout performance, recording a playoff career-high three assists as the Blues won the overtime thriller.
While Monday's win was crucial, the work is not done. With a postseason record of 2-3 (.400) at Enterprise Center, the Blues will need to be as strong of a home team as they were in the regular season (26-10-5, .695) in order to keep the series alive.
"Obviously, we want to use this as momentum," said Tyler Bozak after scoring the game winner in OT. "But at the same time, they're a really good hockey team over there, we know they're gonna push, and we're gonna have to be at our best if we want to beat them."
NOTEWORTHY STATS
-When trailing 3-2 in a best-of-7 series, the Blues hold an all-time series record of 4-21 (.160), though it improves to 2-8 (.200) when starting the series on the road.
-The Blues became the first team in NHL history to score two game-tying goals in the final five minutes of an elimination game, forcing overtime for the eventual win.
-The Game 5 win marked the second time in franchise history that the Blues erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to win an elimination game.
THEY SAID IT
"We had nothing to lose, so we threw it all out there - we had some chances early, but not good enough. We just kept at it, and I think that's the whole story for our team in that game. Just keep at it, keep working, and find a way." - Robert Thomas after Game 5
"We gotta go get this done. It should make our team a little harder, a little grittier in these situations. You can't win every series in four or five (games) - they have a great team and we're excited to go have a huge challenge in St. Louis to try to close out this series." - Nathan MacKinnon after Game 5
BLUE NOTES
The Blues are one of two teams (joining Edmonton) with four players at six or more goals this posteason - David Perron (9), Ryan O'Reilly (7), Jordan Kyrou (6), Vladimir Tarasenko (6)... Nick Leddy became the 12th defenseman in Blues history to post three assists in a playoff game... Tarasenko secured third place all-time in posteason points as a Blue, reaching 60 on his career after a goal and an assist in Game 5. He also became the second player in Blues history to reach 40 career playoff goals, joining Brett Hull... With two in Game 5, Robert Thomas now shares fourth all-time in franchise goals scored in an elimination game.
After OT win, Blues look to hold off Avalanche, elimination
After failing to dispatch the St. Louis Blues at home in Game 5, the Colorado Avalanche will try to clinch their second-round series Friday night on the road.
The Avalanche lead the series 3-2 and aim to advance to the Western Conference final for the first time since 2002.
The Blues forced the series back to their home ice at Enterprise Center for Game 6 by rallying from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to win 5-4 in overtime and keep their postseason alive.
"It's starting to look like you're either the hammer or the nail in the series, so we have to go and be the hammer," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We have to keep moving forward and pressing and forcing them into mistakes. But it starts with the competitiveness and the puck decisions. As the game went on, (the Blues) had a little bit extra in the battle, we didn't, and our puck decisions were not good."
Vladimir Tarasenko started the Blues' comeback with a second-period goal. St. Louis stepped up its pressure in the third period and tied the game on goals by Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
"It's just character and leadership," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We've got a lot of character in that room, we all know that. This team has come from behind quite a bit this year in games, so they don't give up. You've just got to keep playing and keep battling and they did that. That's all on them."
Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon appeared to clinch the series with a spectacular end-to-end scoring rush with 2:46 left in regulation to complete his hat trick. But the Blues pulled goaltender Ville Husso and scored 6-on-5 with Thomas' rebound conversion with 56 seconds remaining.
"It was an amazing hockey game," said Blues forward Tyler 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. 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."
Sure enough, Bozak scored the game-winning goal.
"The third period, they did a good job of keeping pucks in and we got a little bit sloppy with some of our clears," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "It's desperation mode for them, they're throwing pucks to the net, rebounds are laying there and they're outnumbering us at the net, simple as that. But, you know, we've got a short memory and move on."
The Avalanche plan is to regain the form they demonstrated while winning Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis by the combined score of 11-5.
"We got to move on like Gabe said and come back and win Game 6 on the road," MacKinnon said. "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."
