Avs eliminate Blues on Helm's late winner, advance to West final vs. Oilers

Darren Helm scored the winner in the final seconds of regulation, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 on Friday night.

The Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers, who ended the Calgary Flames' season Thursday.

Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon acknowledged the Avalanche have a difficult task ahead of them in containing the Oilers' dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

"It's going to be tough," the center told TNT postgame, according to the Denver Post's Ryan O'Halloran. "I've been watching like everybody else. ... Probably the two best players in the world right now. It's going to (require) a full team effort to stop them."

Colorado will play in the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001-02, when the club lost to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games.

The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup the season before that but have since lost four times in the first round and six times in the second round - including in each of the previous three campaigns.

Helm's clincher Friday came 13 years to the day after he buried a winner in overtime while with the Red Wings to send Detroit to the Stanley Cup Final.