Kulak scores OT winner, Avalanche advances to NHL’s West final with 4-3 win over Wild

DENVER (AP) — Brett Kulak’s first goal since January will certainly be one to remember — for him, of course, and a building packed with fans who witnessed, in dramatic fashion, the Avalanche end a series at home for the first time in 18 years.

The Colorado defenceman scored 3:52 into overtime after Nathan MacKinnon tied it late in regulation and the Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Kulak capped a wild comeback for the Avalanche, who trailed 3-0 midway through the second period. Colorado moves on to the conference final for an eighth time since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.

“You always like to dream about it,” Kulak said. “The player I am, I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench, like, ‘All right, get out there, go win it for us.’”

The Avalanche will face the Vegas-Anaheim winner. Vegas leads that series 3-2.

With Minnesota up 3-1, Jack Drury scored with 3:33 remaining, which set the stage for MacKinnon’s goal with 1:23 left and Colorado’s goal empty.

The star forward sent a shot from the left side past Jesper Wallstedt and into a small space in the top left corner.

In overtime, Martin Necas took the puck, glided behind the net and back out front, where he found an open Kulak. Without missing a stride, Kulak lined it past Wallstedt.

Kulak was one of several late additions this season as he joined the Avalanche on Feb. 24 as part of a deal that sent Samuel Girard to Pittsburgh. Kulak became the 16th Avalanche player to score in the Minnesota series.

He also was an unlikely OT hero. He scored his first goal since Jan. 19 when he was with the Penguins, which also was his only goal of the regular season.

“For us to play the way we did and get the job done, and just for me, a special goal in my career, for sure,” said Kulak, who started the season with Edmonton he was dealt to Pittsburgh in December. “We just clawed back into it and got the job done.”

It was a rare series-ending win at home for Colorado. The last time Colorado on a series on home ice was 2008 against the Wild, when the Avalanche boasted Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.

“That was fun,” MacKinnon said. “A lot of fun.”

Marcus Johansson scored 34 seconds into the game and Nick Foligno added two goals to give the Wild a 3-0 after the first period. It led Colorado to take out Mackenzie Blackwood after the first and insert Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.

Late in the game, Cale Makar collided with Mats Zuccarello and grabbed his right arm in pain. Makar went down the tunnel before returning to the ice.

The Avalanche overcame a three-goal deficit to win a playoff game for just the third time in 53 tries since moving to Denver. The Wild were 21-0 when leading a playoff game by at least three goals before Wednesday’s loss.

“Just anger and frustration,” Minnesota defenceman Brock Faber said. “You work all year for one thing, and just feels like it closes like that. It’s just done.”

Wallstedt stopped 30 shots for the Wild. Matt Boldy and Nico Sturm each had two assists for a banged-up Wild team that was missing centre Joel Eriksson Ek and defenceman Jonas Brodin all series.

“When you go after something like this, there’s going to be two sides of the coin,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “One is you’re going to win, which is a great feeling. And when you lose, it’s an empty feeling.”

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Pat Graham, The Associated Press