In the final seconds of the game, Helm ripped a shot past Ville Husso to send the Avs to the Western Conference finals. (1:02)
GEORGE's is located in the state of St. George's The Blues were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday night in St. Louis with a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avs.
The Western Conference finals will be played in Denver on Tuesday night. It is the first appearance in the conference finals for the Avs since 2002.
Helm, a 35-year-old fourth-liner, scored his first of the playoffs on a blast that beat Blues goalie Ville Husso. The seconds were running out and it seemed like an inevitable overtime. The crowd at the Enterprise Center was stunned by Helm's goal.
The Blues counterpunched at times in the Game 6 and the Avalanche carried play at times.
Husso came up with key stops on Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog in the first period, as the Avs had the better of the play at 5-on-5. The Blues left the period with a one-goal advantage. Robert Thomas got the puck after defenseman Niko Mikkola kept the puck in the point. The Blues center, who had two goals in Game 5 for his first two points of the series, found the defenseman open in the zone. The first goal of the game was scored with a minute left in the first period.
The Blues were sloppy and uninspired in the second period, and the Avs made them pay. J.T. Compher followed up a Josh Manson shot and scored on the doorstep of the crease at 5:19 of the second period. It was the first of the playoffs.
Colorado's Jack Johnson entered the series after a season-ending injury to teammate Samuel Girard, but he made a mistake that led to St. Louis regaining the lead. Johnson tried to keep the puck at the St. Louis blue line, but fumbled it away to the St. Louis player. Jordan Kyrou scored his seventh goal of the playoffs at 9:34 when Manson slid to protect the pass.
The Blues had a chance to build their lead on the power play, but an open net on the play saw Manson save a goal and a chance for Kyrou that he missed. The second period ended with St. Louis up.
In the third period, Husso continued his strong play, but Parayko put the puck into the crowd for a delay of game penalty. Compher scored his second goal of the game with one second remaining on the clock to tie the game at 2-2 and force overtime.
Helm was the hero and the Avs went to the conference finals.
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