The Colorado Avalanche had to work.
They had to work hard.
In the end, defenseman Josh Manson made all the hard work pay off.
Manson got a puck past St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington at 8:02 of overtime to give the Avalanche a 3-2 win in game one of the second round of the Western Conference playoff series.
Manson was able to get his shot from the outside through traffic and a good screen by Avs captain Gabe Landeskog down low for the game-winner.
Scoring on Binnington proved to be easier said than done for Colorado, which peppered the St. Louis goalie with 54 shots and hit the post five times.
But Binnington limited the damage all night long.
Trailing 1-0 after one period, the Avs came out flying in the second period and Valeri Nichushkin tied the game at 3:14 of the second period. Samuel Girard gave the Avs a 2-1 advantage with 8:28 to go in the second.
The Blues caught the Avs in a shift change at the end of a power play and Jordan Kyrou tied the game with 3:14 remaining in regulation.
The Avalanche outshot the Blues 13-0 in overtime.
Landeskog had two assists for the Avs. Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri had one each.
MORE ON THE AVS WIN HERE
Game two will be Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. MDT at Ball Arena.
Postgame comments from Avs forward Gabe Landeskog (first to speak) and defenseman Josh Manson:
Postgame comments from Avs head coach Jared Bednar:
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