Game 1 Recap: Manson's OT Winner Sends Avalanche Past Blues

Finding a way, even in overtime.
Josh Manson (1G, 1A) scored the overtime winner as the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in Game 1 of the Second Round Series of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. The Avalanche lead the series 1-0.

Valeri Nichushkin, Samuel Girard scored in regulation for Colorado and Gabriel Landeskog dished out two assists. Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves on 25 shots in the victory and his first game back in the lineup since Game 3 of the First Round.
For St. Louis, Jordan Kyrou scored on the power play to send the game into overtime, while Ryan O'Reilly also found the back of the net in regulation. Jordan Binnington made 51 saves on 54 shots for the Blues.
REGULATION SUMMARY:
The Avalanche showed no quit.
Even after putting up 54 shots and hitting multiple posts, Colorado did not give up. As St. Louis sent the game into overtime late in regulation, the Avalanche poured on the offense with a 13-0 shot advantage in OT.
Colorado circulated the puck low-to-high and Manson wired his blistering long-range shot over Binnington's glove to seal the victory for the Avs.

From the start of the game, Colorado showed no quit despite frustrating outcomes and not getting results. They found themselves trailing 1-0 after the first period, but responded with a dominant second period effort.
In the opening frame, Colorado put forth an opportunistic effort including a 9-7 shot edge and hitting three posts, but fell 1-0 to the Blues heading into the first intermission.
Colorado and St. Louis exchanged chances early on with the Avs generating some promising looks from Nathan MacKinnon in tight, a look from distance from Sam Girard and a clapper from Nazem Kadri that wrung off the crossbar. But at 6:25 into the frame, an d-zone outlet pass from Cale Makar deflected off the skate of St. Louis forward Brayden Schenn and popped out in the low slot to O'Reilly where the former Avalanche centerman roofed his backhand over Kuemper to provide the game's icebreaker.
Down a goal, the Avalanche still produced some lethal looks including a shot from Artturi Lehkonen that hit the post on the shift after O'Reilly's goal and a slot in the low slot from Mikko Rantanen that also struck iron.
Colorado ushered a dominant response in the second period where they took a 2-1 lead with strikes from Nichushkin and Girard. The Avs came out firing in the middle frame - where they finished with a 20-9 shot advantage - and capitalized.
At 3:14, Rantanen centered a shot to the netfront that deflected off MacKinnon and fell to the backdoor. Nichushkin circled in and buried the loose puck over Binnington's stick. With the score tied 1-1, the Avalanche only continued to press. Binnington had to come up with a stop on a Devon Toews backhander in tight and made a goal line save on an Erik Johnson backdoor attempt, but Colorado finally struck again at 11:32.
Girard, who had a strong performance, unleashed a slap shot from the point that beat Binnington far side to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Colorado's dangerous scoring chances continued in the third period, where Gabriel Landeskog nearly scored midway through the period, but the puck didn't cross the goal line.
The Blues regained some momentum late in the game and made the most of their first power play of the game as they converted on the man advantage to send the game into overtime. Devon Toews went to the box at 14:53 for holding. With just eight seconds left on the power play and in a quick transition, Kyrou toe dragged across the slot and ripped his low shot under Kuemper's glove.
The Avalanche were awarded their third power play of the game with less than two minutes left in regulation as Schenn hi-sticked Josh Manson, but Colorado's extra-man unit was unable to convert.
IN NET:
Kuemper made his first start since Game 3 of Colorado's First Round series against Nashville, where he sustained swelling to the eye due to an array stick in the final minute of the first period.
In the first period, Kuemper made six saves on seven shots. His workload only slightly increased in the second frame where he made nine saves, but all came at timely points in the period. Especially in the final five minutes of the period when St. Louis went down 2-1 and was pressing, the Avs netminder came through. Kuemper made a big stop on O'Reilly - with three minutes left - who fired a chance from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. He also gloved a Colton Parayko slapshot from the point with just over 90 seconds left before the second intermission.
Kuemper came up big in the final frame making nine saves.

NOTEWORTHY:
NEXT GAME:
The Second Round series between the Avalanche and Blues continues in Denver with Game 2 on Thursday night at Ball Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT.