ST. LOUIS (AP) Ryan O’Reilly scored with two seconds left in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
Mike Hoffman scored twice for the Blues, tying it with 41.6 seconds left in regulation after the Blues pulled goalie Ville Husso.
O’Reilly skated around the net and muscled a shot past Cam Talbot.
“I knew there wasn’t much time,” O’Reilly said. “I had to finish at the net and try to attack. Luckily, the timing was good.”
Nico Sturm and Matt Dumba scored for Minnesota.
The Blues have won three in a row beating Minnesota 9-1 on Friday night to move a point ahead of fourth-place Arizona for the last playoff spot in the West Division. The teams will meet for the third time in four nights on Monday in Minnesota.
Avs Gaining Confidence After Sweeping Blues
Players say the tight games should help them in the stretch run and beyond by Ron Knabenbauer @RonKnab / ColoradoAvalanche.com
The Colorado Avalanche might be on a 14-game point streak, but the team s recent success hasn t been as easy as it might appear.
The squad has had to show its versatility to win different ways during the run, and Colorado played in two such outings in the back-to-back set against the St. Louis Blues.
On Friday, the Avs had a 3-2 lead at the second intermission and held on for the victory. Saturday saw St. Louis play a tough, tighter game with the score tied at 1-1 for most of the night, but Colorado stuck with its game plan and won 2-1 after Cale Makar s shot found twine in the final minute of regulation.
Colorado and St. Louis wrap up their back-to-back set at Ball Arena by Andy Vernier / ColoradoAvalanche.com
The Colorado Avalanche finishes its six-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts the St. Louis Blues in the second half of a back-to-back set between the clubs.
The Avs (24-8-4) earned their third straight victory with a 3-2 win over the Blues on Friday, extending their point streak to a league-best 13 games. Colorado converted on the power play twice as Brandon Saad and Nathan MacKinnon both found the back of the net. MacKinnon added another goal for his first multi-goal performance and second game-winning marker of the season, while Gabriel Landeskog finished with two assists for his sixth multi-point night in the last nine matchups. Goaltender Jonas Johansson collected his first win in an Avalanche sweater, stopping 25-of-27 shots.
BLUES AT AVALANCHE
Where: Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado
Watch: Bally Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO
Listen: 101 ESPN, NHL App
Season series presented by Bud Light Seltzer: Avalanche lead 2-1
Saturday s game will be the second meeting in as many days between the division rivals. The Blues and Avalanche will meet a total of six times during the month of April.
Jan. 13: Blues 4, Avalanche 1
Mike Hoffman expected to make his Blues debut but was a last-minute scratch due to his work visa still needing approval. Without Hoffman on the second line, Oskar Sundqvist was promoted and delivered immediately, netting two goals in a 4-1 win on Opening Night. Jordan Kyrou and Kyle Clifford also scored in the victory. Jordan Binnington made 26 saves in his first win of the season.
Bozak will return for Blues; Canucks claim Vesey off waivers NHL.com @NHLdotcom
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Wayne Simmonds practiced Wednesday for the first time since breaking his wrist on Feb. 9 but said he was uncertain if he could play this weekend. It s getting better every day, the forward said. For me, it s just making sure I can handle my own area, whether that would be shooting, playing pucks on the wall and [playing] with confidence, especially in front of the net. Just trying to figure out where I am in all those aspects before the weekend gets here. If they allow me to go, maybe I ll be able to go. But for now, we re just playing it by ear.