The Colorado Avalanche are going to the Stanley Cup Final, and they needed only four games in the conference finals to make it happen.
Colorado completed a four-game sweep over the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-5 overtime victory in Game 4 on Monday night.
It was an incredible, back-and-forth hockey game, but the Avs found a way to get it done as they have all series.
The Avs trailed 3-1 entering the third period, but Devin Toews scored just 31 seconds into the period to get Colorado within one.
Edmonton later regained a two-goal lead, but Gabriel Landeskog scored with 11:02 remaining in the third period to make it a 4-3 game.
With 6:30 remaining in regulation, Avs star Nathan MacKinnon showed off his burst and found the back of the net to tie the game 4-4.
And just over a minute later, Colorado took a 5-4 lead on a power-play goal from Mikko Rantanen:
The Oilers, fighting for their lives, were able to tie the game back up at 5-5 on a goal from Zack Kassian with 3:22 remaining in regulation.
But just 2:19 into overtime, the Avs completed the sweep on a goal from Artturi Lehkonen.
Colorado will face the winner of the East final between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. New York currently has a 2-1 lead in that series.
FiveThirtyEight gives the Avs a 66% chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Avs have won two championships, with the last one coming in the 2000-01 season.
Here’s a look at how the hockey world is reacting to a wild Game 4 and the Avs’ Stanley Cup Final berth:
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.