Colorado Avalanche advance to Stanley Cup Finals with overtime win over Edmonton

The Colorado Avalanche are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2001.

Artturi Lehkonen’s goal just over a minute into overtime gave the Avalanche a 6-5 win over the Oilers to complete a four-game sweep.

Cale Makar opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the opening four minutes. The Avalanche maintained a 1-0 advantage until Zach Hyman took a feed from Leon Draisaitl and beat Pavel Francouz with 12:21 left in the second period. Francouz made his third straight start, while Darcy Kuemper returned from injury in a back-up role.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid added goals in the final minutes of the second period to give the hosts a 3-1 lead to start the third.

Colorado’s Devon Toews scored a short-handed goal 31 seconds into the third period, but Hyman scored his second a few minutes later.

With just over 12 minutes left in regulation, Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog poked his stick through a crowd and pushed the puck into the net, making it a one-goal game once again. Nathan MacKinnon tied it a few minutes later, and Mikko Rantanen scored the Avalanche’s third unanswered goal of the third and gave Colorado a brief lead with just over five minutes to play.

Edmonton’s Zack Kassian tied it a couple of minutes later, forcing overtime.

The Avalanche will face either the New York Rangers or Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers lead the Panthers 2-1 with Game 4 slated for Tuesday.