Avs complete sweep of Oilers with OT win, advance to Stanley Cup Final
The Colorado Avalanche are off to the Stanley Cup Final after completing a sweep of the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-5 overtime win Monday night.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the goal that sent Colorado to its first final since 2001. Remarkably, it's the second year in a row Lehkonen's been the hero in Round 3. He scored the overtime winner as a member of the Montreal Canadiens to send the Habs to the championship series last spring.
"I'd trade 10 first-rounders for him right now," teammate Nathan MacKinnon said of Lehkonen, who Colorado acquired at the trade deadline in March.
Monday's contest was an instant classic. Cale Makar opened the scoring in the first period, but the Oilers answered back with three consecutive goals in the middle frame.
Chaos ensued in the third, as the teams combined for six tallies. Mikko Rantanen put the Avalanche up 5-4 with just over five minutes to go, but Zack Kassian answered back less than two minutes later to send the high-octane contest to overtime.
Lehkonen's winner came at 1:19 of the extra stanza.
Colorado will now await the winner of the New York Rangers-Tampa Bay Lightning series, which New York currently leads 2-1.