Avalanche Advance to Stanley Cup Final with Game 4 Win over Edmonton

The Colorado Avalanche have found a way to advance the Stanley Cup Final.

Artturi Lehkonen scored the overtime winner in a dramatic 6-5 Game 4 over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 to complete the series sweep of the Western Conference Final on Monday night at Rogers Place. It was a back-and-forth game in which the Avalanche had the lead, lost the lead and regained the lead, but showed no quit to send themselves to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2001.
Cale Makar paced the way for Colorado with a five-point (1G, 4A) outing, while Devon Toews, Gabriel Landeskog (1G, 2A), Nathan MacKinnon (1G, 1A) and Mikko Rantanen (power play) also scored. Arturri Lehkonen handed out two assists. Pavel Francouz made 30 saves on 35 shots in the victory. Darcy Kuemper backed up Francouz.
For Edmonton, Zach Hyman scored twice, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Zach Kassian and Connor McDavid (1G, 2A) added a power-play strike. Leon Draisaitl dished out four assists. Mike Smith made 36 saves on 42 shots. Evander Kane did not play as he served his one-game suspension as a result of boarding Nazem Kadri in Game 3.

SERIES CLINCHER:

On the series clinching goal, Lehkonen sent his team to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second-straight year in overtime as he did last year for Montreal against the Vegas Golden Knights. Lehkonen attempted to tip in a Makar point shot. Smith made the stop, but the puck shot out to Lehkonen's tape and he put it past the Edmonton netminder to secure the series clinching goal.

REGULATION SUMMARY:

After failing to convert on five power play attempts in Game 3, the Avalanche made the most of their first opportunity on the man advantage in Game 4 to score the game's icebreaker at 3:46 in the first period. Zach Kassian was sent to the box for slashing at 2:53. As the Colorado power play set up and circled the puck around, Lehkonen dropped a pass to the blueline for Makar. The Avs defenseman walked the line and then flung a spinning puck on net that beat Smith to the side of his glove.

Despite the Avalanche's strong start to the game, the second period featured pushback from Edmonton as the Oilers were desperate to salvage their postseason and scored three times to take a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Edmonton's first strike came at 7:39 as Darnell Nurse fed a pass up ice to Draisaitl. The German winger entered the zone and split Colorado's defense in half as he threaded a pass across the slot to the right faceoff circle for Hyman. Hyman skated in and beat Francouz with the swoop of a forehand-to-backhand sequence for the 1-1 equalizer.
With the score tied, the play leveled out a bit but the Oilers mounted an abrasive and successful push towards the end of the third period.
Edmonton capitalized on a poor pass in the neutral zone by the Avalanche which allowed the puck to bounce out for a breakaway for Nugent-Hopkins. The centerman went forehand-to-backhand to lift his shot over Francouz and provide the Oilers with a 2-1 lead at 16:57.
Then, the Avalanche cost themselves with a delay of game penalty for a puck chipped over the glass at 18:02. Edmonton's power play capitalized on its fourth outing of the night as Draisaitl zipped a pass out to the right faceoff circle for McDavid. The Oilers captain stickhandled and then wired a shot over Francouz's left shoulder at 18:54 to extend his team's lead 3-1.
The Avalanche trimmed their deficit down 3-2 just 31 seconds into the third period as Toews wired a shot from the point on net. Nathan MacKinnon was jousting for position in front of the net with Cody Ceci and Toews' shot deflected off Ceci and past Smith to put Colorado within one goal of tying the game.

The Oilers restored their two-goal lead to 4-2 at 3:55. On a transition play up ice, McDavid entered the offensive zone, dropped a pass to Draisaitl, who sent the puck over the right faceoff circle for Hyman. Hyman buried his second goal of the night with a blast of a one-timer that sailed into the net before Francouz could slide over.
Colorado trimmed its deficit down 4-3 at 8:58 on a persistent effort. Bowen Byram fired an initial shot on Smith, who made the stop, but lost control of the puck in the crease. The loose puck created a netfront scrum and Landeskog jammed it in.

The Avalanche continued to push and tied the score up 4-4 at 13:30 with a strike from MacKinnon. The play unfolded on a quick counter up ice and Lehkonen turned and quickly played the puck into the offensive zone as MacKinnon raced up ice. The electric centerman flew down into the right faceoff circle and wired a shot over Smith's glove for the late equalizer.
The Avalanche were awarded a power play at 14:06 as Derek Ryan went to the box for holding the stick. Colorado's power play went to work and executed a passing sequence which found its way to Rantanen at the right faceoff circle. The Finn fired a shot past Smith to give Colorado the 5-4 lead.
The Oilers tied the game up 5-5 at 16:38 on a transition play. McDavid used his speed to jet up ice and threaded a pass to Draisaitl, who fired a shot on net. Francouz came up with the stop, but the puck leaked out to the backdoor and Kassian swooped in to bury it.

IN NET:

Francouz made 30 saves on 35 shots as he recorded his sixth-straight playoff win during this run and made his third-straight start.
Francouz came up with a perfect 12 saves to start the first period and helped his team kill off to penalties. In just the first minute of play, the Czech netminder made a stick save to deny a Derek Ryan shot that was fired from the left faceoff circle. He also came up with a big stop on
Edmonton's second power play of the period that was awarded at 16:00 as Erik Johnson went to the box for tripping. On the Oilers man advantage, Leon Draisaitl fired a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, but Francouz denied it.
Despite giving up two goals in the middle frame, Francouz still had some solid stops on his other five saves of the period. On an Edmonton power play - awarded at 8:06 as Landeskog was whistled for holding - Francouz smothered an Evan Bouchard blast from the point. He also came up with a huge stop as he slid across his crease to deny Brad Malone on the doorstep on a tap-in attempt.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehkonen scored his sixth goal of the postseason and team-leading third game-winning goal.
• Makar scored his fifth goal of the postseason and leads Colorado in points with 19 (5G, 14A).
• Toews scored his fifth goal of the postseason.
• Landeskog jammed in his eighth goal of the postseason.
• MacKinnon buried his team-leading 11th goal of the playoffs.
• Rantanen recorded his fifth goal of the postseason.
• Colorado finished the game 2-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
• Andre Burakovsky drew in the lineup as Nazem Kadri was injured in Game 3 and will be out for the rest of the series per Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar. Burakovsky made his first appearance back in the lineup since Game 1 of the WCF.
• Nicolas Aube-Kubel returned to the lineup for the first time since Game 1 of the WCF in place of Nico Sturm.
• Sturm, Ryan Murray, Kurtis MacDermid, Nazem Kadri (undisclosed), Samuel Girard (upper body) and Darcy Kuemper (upper body) were scratches for Colorado.

NEXT GAME:

Colorado has officially advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2001. The Avalanche will await the winner between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference Final. New York leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.