Avalanche sesa Oilers, reaches the final of the Stanley Cup
The Colorado Avalanche reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since their 2001 competition on Monday, breaking their record for the most talented team that ever suffered in the playoffs.
They angrily bounced back for the third time and won in extra time with the goal of buying the last day of the trade Artturi Lehkonen to sweep the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-5 victory in Game 4. Lehkonen, then Montreal, re-entered the Canadiens in the Final Last. weather and the purpose of the extra.
Avalanche will face the winner of the Tampa Bay Lightning-New York Rangers series. The Rangers lead seven Eastern Championship finalists 2-1 with Game 4 on Tuesday (8pm ET, ESPN) in Tampa.
Colorado won 3-1 and 4-2 on goals from Devon Toews, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen to advance Zack Kassian before forcing extra time. Cale Makar, who scored for the first time, had four assistants, including the Lehkonen winner.
Although the Avalanche stars were at the forefront of Game 4 development, it happened during the last trade that helped Colorado become a Western Conference champion.
General Manager Joe Sakic, captain of the 2001 team, found defender Josh Manson to add grit to the cloud line and bring forward Lehkonen, Nico Sturm and Andrew Cogliano to assist in the penalty shootout.
Lehkonen had two assistants to go with his winner. Cogliano had a big block Monday night but was seen injuring his arm during the game.
The newcomers teamed up with stars MacKinnon, Makar, Landeskog and Rantanen to produce the power required for 14 games to cross the Nashville Predators, St. Louis. Louis Blues and Oilers.
And the depth has helped them survive serious injuries. Defender Sam Girard was injured in the second half and No. 2 center Nazem Kadri missed Game 4 after being pushed across the boards of Game 3, prompting the Oilers to suspend one game.
TSN reported that Kadri underwent finger surgery and his Cup Final form is unknown.
“Naz has been one of our best players of all time, a player,” MacKinnon told TNT. “I hope he does well and we’ll get him to the next list.”
BOOKS:Coach Bruce Cassidy fired shots after the first outing
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Rangers are hoping that the next two players can play in Game 4
The Rangers came out on Sunday 3-2 losing in Game 3 with their biggest problem, but head coach Gerard Gallant believes Barclay Goodrow or Ryan Strome will not miss any time.
Strome’s lower back injury came during his first second-half rematch, when he was pushed slightly backwards by Lightning striker Ondrej Palat and appeared to have hardly planted his right leg. He came out again for 36 seconds, but he could not go further.
“She should be fine,” Gallant said following Monday’s performance at Amalie Arena. “We’ll see (Tuesday) … But we expect him to play.”
Goodrow was injured a third time when he stopped Victor Hedman’s shot.
Despite the apparent pain, the 29-year-old went to the locker room and returned to the ice for his next 2:23 change.
“It hurt me a little bit, but Barclay is a competitor,” Gallant said. “He comes back and plays. That’s what he does.”
Kyle Connor of the Jets wins Lady Byng Trophy
Winnipeg Jets player Kyle Connor has won the Lady Byng Trophy, awarded to the best NHL player of the year.
The League announced the honor on Monday night ahead of the final Game 4 final game of the Western Conference.
Connor is tied to a second-minimum number of minor penalties during a fixed term. He was punished only twice in the more than 1,700 minutes of the ice period which included frequent rotations and matchups against high-profile opponents.
It’s her first time winning Lady Byng. Last year’s winner, Carolina defender, Jaccob Slavin, was second in line with the Professional Hockey Writer Association. Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon was third.
Supporting: Vincent Z. Mercogliano, Northjersey.com; Associated Press
