Tyler Bozak of Regina, Saskatchewan notched his second career National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner on Wednesday. He accomplished the feat at 3:38 of the first overtime period from Nick Leddy and Ivan Barbashev in a 5-4 St. Louis Blues win over the Colorado Avalanche. The win kept the Blues’s season alive, but the Blues are still trailing three games to two to the Avalanche in the best-out-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Bozak was one of three Canadians to score for the Blues. Center Robert Thomas of Aurora, Ontario had two goals, and center Jordan Kyrou of Toronto, Ontario also recorded a goal. Thomas’s second goal of the game came in dramatic fashion. It came with 56 seconds left in the third period from Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich. At the time, the Blues were facing elimination, but now they stay alive for another game.
Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon of Halifax, Nova Scotia recorded a hat trick in a losing cause. MacKinnon’s third goal of the game was masterful, as it was coast-to-coast. He started stick-handling the puck in his own zone, beat two Blues defensemen and then Blues goaltender Ville Husso. However, MacKinnon’s three-goal game was not enough. Game six is on Friday.
Bozak’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff winner was while he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bozak scored from Nazem Kadri of London, Ontario, and Morgan Rielly of Vancouver, British Columbia at 1:37 on the power play in a 4-3 Toronto win over the Washington Capitals in game three of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on April 17, 2017.
