Nathan MacKinnon’s Overtime Goal Pushes Colorado Avalanche Past Minnesota Wild In Game Five
By Andrew Dill
Apr 26, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (29) waves to the crowd after game five of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche won 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Avalanche needed a pick me up and quick after going down in two-straight games to the Wild to even the series at two. Nathan MacKinnon would give them just that.
The Avs and Wild would go into overtime tied at three with a chance of getting the upper-hand on the other. 3:27 into the overtime session, Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon would take a difficult shot through two Wild defenders, hitting it top shelf just past Darcy Kuemper for the game-winner.
Rewinding back to the second period. After a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty on the Avalanche, Minnesota would have the chance to strike first Saturday night. However, the Colorado Avalanche had other plans. Ryan O’Reilly would get the puck into the Wild zone, making a nifty pass to Cody McLeod who lifted it up and in for the early 1-0 lead. Minnesota would answer back less than a minute later as Matt Moulson shot it past Semyon Varlamov to tied the game up at one apiece.
Nick Holden would strike than three minutes after Minnesota’s goal to tie it up. Andre Benoit would send in a shot from the blue line that Holden would tip in from the slot, giving the Avalanche the 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
Minnesota would come out of the gates hot in the third period as Zach Parise would snipe one top shelf past Varalmov after a nice pass from Jason Pominville to tie the game back up at two. The Wild were back at it less than two minutes later as Kyle Brodziak silenced the Pepsi Center with his second goal of the playoffs, giving the Wild the 3-2 advantage.
Patrick Roy would pull his goaltender Semyon Varlamov yet again and it would pay off once more. At the 18:46 mark, P.A. Parenteau would collect his first goal of the playoffs to send the game into overtime tied up at three. The rest is history as the kid Nathan MacKinnon continues to excel in his rookie year, making an almost impossible shot to send the Avalanche to Minnesota up 3-2 in the series.
Game six in Minnesota between the Avalanche and Wild will start at 9:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM MT.