Wednesday, May 16 7:00pm ET
Blues come back, avoid 3-0 deficit
RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Getting to Patrick Roy gave the St. Louis Blues
new life in the Western Conference finals.
Scott Young scored 10:27 into the second overtime for the
desperate Blues, who pelted Roy with 60 shots and beat the Colorado
Avalanche 4-3 on Wednesday night.
|  | | Roman Turek's stop on Colorado's Stephane Yelle during the first overtime was the save of the game. Yelle had a wide-open net, but Turek got enough stick on it to deflect the shot. |
Young's shot beat Roy just inside the left post as the Blues,
3-0 in overtime in this year's playoffs, cut their deficit in the
Western Conference finals to 2-1. Roy, dominant throughout the
postseason, gave up two tying goals in the third period to keep the
Blues out of a big hole in the series.
"We just have to believe it's eventually going to go in the
net," Young said. "I just tried to get it off quick."
The Avalanche weren't blaming Roy.
"I think his performances are speaking by themselves," coach
Bob Hartley said. "Patrick is strong and he's giving us a chance
to win every game. Tonight, we almost took advantage of it again."
Scott Mellanby and Jamal Mayers erased deficits, and Alexander
Khavanov also scored for the Blues, who had three goals in the
first two games of the series at Denver. The Blues, who had trailed
2-1 and 3-2 in the third, can even the series in Game 4 on Friday
night in St. Louis.
Young, who had a career-best 40 goals in the regular season,
scored his sixth of the playoffs on the game-winner. He took a pass
from Pierre Turgeon near the blue line and skated alone into the
slot, beating Roy with a wrist shot.
The goal ended the longest overtime of this year's playoffs,
topping the Blues' win in Game 3 of their second-round series
against Dallas by 61 seconds.
Entering this Game 3, Roy had allowed six goals in six games. He
was under intense pressure, facing 40 shots in regulation and 20
more in the extra periods. One of the shots, a slap shot to the gut
by Al MacInnis with 1:56 to go in regulation, took his breath away.
The Blues overcame a shaky outing from goalie Roman Turek, who
gave up three goals on only 16 shots in regulation. Turek handed
the Avalanche their second goal when he fumbled the puck to Dan
Hinote. He then gave Colorado an empty net at 4:40 of the first
overtime after bobbling a Chris Drury drive, but managed to get his
stick on a Stephane Yelle backhander that hit the goal post.
"I think he overcame a tough start," coach Joel Quenneville
said. "He made that big save in overtime and he had several saves
after that. He got the win and he's going to get better from
that."
Yelle said the missed opportunity will be hard to forget.
"I had a wide-open net, and all I had to do was lift the puck
up a couple of inches," Yelle said. "I'll be thinking about it
the next couple of days."
Ray Bourque and Eric Messier also scored for Colorado, which had
33 shots. Messier's goal on a 2-on-1 break with Shjon Podein gave
the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with 7:20 to play.
Mayers, a fourth-line forward who scored a career-best eight
goals in the regular season, forced overtime when he deflected
Chris Pronger's shot past Roy with 5:43 left in regulation.
Mellanby tied it at 2 with the Blues' first even-strength goal
of the series. He carried the puck into the offensive zone off a
feed from Mike Eastwood, faked a forehand and whipped a backhander
around Roy at 10:13 of the third.
The Blues scored two power-play goals in Game 2 and scored
shorthanded in Game 1.
St. Louis outshot the Avalanche 9-4 in the first period, yet
trailed 2-1 due to Turek's weak start.
Khavanov's third goal of the playoffs, an easy tap-in after Roy
stopped Pavol Demitra's wrist shot, came on a power play and put
St. Louis ahead for the first time in the series at 5:54.
The Avalanche, outshot 8-0 at the start, scored the first time
they tested Turek. Just 1:02 after Colorado fell behind, Bourque
scored his second goal of the postseason on a power-play drive from
the point between Turek's pads.
Hinote had an empty net on the Avalanche's third shot at 8:36 of
the first after Turek misplayed the puck on a dump-in by Dave Reid,
which was officially credited as his first save. Turek came out of
the net but couldn't decide whether to glove the puck, dive on it
or swat it away. He did none of the above.
Part of the sellout crowd cheered sarcastically the next time
Turek successfully handled the puck, on a Blues power play.
The Blues also dominated play most of the second period, with a
10-1 shot advantage at one point and 15-8 overall. But the best
chance of the period was by Colorado's Joe Sakic, who hit the post
on a 2-on-1 break in the final minute.
Game notes
Demitra, scoreless in the first two games, had two assists
for the Blues. ... The Blues' Cory Stillman took a puck off the
bridge of his nose on a MacInnis clearing effort at 1:45 of the
second and immediately left for repairs. He returned with about
eight minutes gone. ... Bourque has 176 career playoff points, tied
for eighth on the NHL list with Jean Beliveau. He had been tied
with Denis Savard. ... The Blues are 1-11 when trailing a series
2-0, with the lone triumph in 1972, and have been swept six times.
... The Avalanche is 8-1 in the playoffs when they score a
power-play goal. ... NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended the
game. ... The Avalanche fell to 4-2 on the road in the playoffs.
... Colorado has played at least one overtime game in 15 of the
last 17 series. The Avalanche are 1-3 this year in playoff
overtimes.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Scott Young calls for the puck and delivers the game-winner in double overtime.
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The Avs squander a golden opportunity to put the game away in the first OT.
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Jamal Mayers deflects the Chris Pronger slapshot for the St. Louis tally.
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The Avalanche capitalize on the 3-on-1 break with a goal from Eric Messier.
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Scott Mellanby keeps the puck on the 2-on-1 and beats Patrick Roy.
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Roman Turek mishandles the puck and gives Dan Hinote an opportunity to score off the backhand.
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Ray Bourque blasts the long-range slapper through Roman Turek's five-hole for a power-play goal.
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Pavol Demitra puts the shot on net and Alex Khavanov is their to score the rebound.
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 ESPN's Brian Engblom speaks with Game 3 hero Scott Young.
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Coach Joel Quenneville hopes the Blues can maintain their high-level performance.
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