Avalanche sweep Oilers, advance to Stanley Cup Final
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Artturi Lehkonen is sending a team to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight season.
Lehkonen scored 1:19 into overtime, and Colorado rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 Monday night, completing a four-game sweep in the Western Conference finals and propelling the Avalanche into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2001.
Colorado will take on the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between the New York Rangers and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Lehkonen repeated his feat of last season, when he scored in OT in Game 6 to send the Montreal Canadiens to the final against Tampa Bay. He becomes the second player in NHL history, and first in 83 years, to score an overtime goal to send his club into the championship series more than once in his career. Toronto’s Gordie Drillon accomplished the feat in 1938-39.
“Cale (Makar) took the shot,” Lehkonen said. “I got a tip on it. It landed straight on my blade. I basically had an empty netter in front of me, so tap it in.”
Cale Makar, Devon Toews Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen also scored for Colorado. Pavel Francouz stopped 30 of 35 shots.
“Our main thing is just trying to be resilient, making sure that every single night we bring that same game,” Makar said. “Sometimes it might not be pretty, but at the end of the day we’re just going to try to get the job done.”
Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian also scored for Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl had four assists and goalie Mike Smith finished with 36 saves.
The teams combined for six goals in the third period — four by Colorado, which rallied from a 4-2 deficit despite being outshot 15-13.
“It was a great comeback win, for sure,” Lehkonen said. “We were talking in the second intermission that we just got to find our game and we can pull through this.”
Rantanen appeared to complete Colorado’s comeback, scoring a power-play goal with just over five minutes remaining to give the Avalanche a 5-4 edge.
But the Oilers stormed back and forced overtime when Kassian scored at 16:38 and tied it at 5-all. Lehkonen scored 1:19 into overtime, a goal that stood up after review for a high stick.
The Avalanche improved to 11-2 in the playoffs, including a perfect 7-0 on the road. Only six other teams in NHL history have strung together at least seven consecutive road victories in a postseason.