The Edmonton Oilers now know their Western Conference Final dance partner as the Colorado Avalanche finally put the St. Louis Blues away in six games. In typical NHL playoff fashion, it had to happen in theatrical circumstances.
Avs forward Darren Helm slammed a puck past Blues goaltender Ville Husso with just 5.6 seconds left in regulation to seal the deal. The hockey equivalent of a buzzer-beater gave Colorado a 3-2 lead and sent the Blues to their offseason stunned.
Darren Helm beats the buzzer and sends the @Avalanche to the Western Conference Final!!! 🥳 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/P6z9sAB2Kn
— NHL (@NHL) May 28, 2022
Defenseman Erik Johnson carried the puck into the zone to start the eventual game-winning play. The former number one overall draft selection by the Blues then dished it to Logan O’Connor along the right half-wall. O’Connor floated a prayer of a pass through the center of the ice where it eventually clanked off the boards and found Helm’s tape. Boom, series over.
Helm, who won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008, knows a thing or two about series-clinching goals on May 27ths.
Darren Helm scores a series-winning goal to send Colorado to Western Conference Finals.
May 27, 2009 (13 years ago to the day): Darren Helm scores a series-winning goal, sending Detroit to the Stanley Cup Finals. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/12d1HQfA05
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) May 28, 2022
“There’s no other guy that deserves it as much as he does,” Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog said of Helm postgame to Mile High Sports’ Aarif Deen. “Obviously, he’s been around for a long time. I remember being a teenager back in Sweden watching him on those Cup runs with Detroit in ’08 and ’09. It’s been a pleasure playing with him.”
This is the first time Helm has played in the playoffs since the 2015-16 season with the Red Wings.
“Just wanted to put a puck on net and it found its way in. Felt great,” he told Deen.
A man of few words, but of apparently huge action. His goal sends Colorado to their first Western Conference Final since 2002.
Screenshot via TNT
