The Colorado Avalanche wasted a grand opportunity to finish their business in the second round of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the St. Louis Blues when they squandered a 3-0 lead in Game 5 at home Wednesday night and lost in overtime, 5-4. That setback also put to waste a spectacular effort from Avs center Nathan MacKinnon, who had scored his first three goals of the series in that contest.

MacKinnon was not one to feel very dejected though after such a gut-wrenching defeat, as he looks forward to helping the Avalanche seal the deal in Game 6 on the road.

Via Greg Wyshynski of ESPN:

“We've gotta move on and win Game 6 on the road,” MacKinnon said. “Hopefully everything happens for a reason. It should make our team a little harder, a little gritter. You can't win every series in four and five [games]. We're excited to have a huge challenge in St. Louis and try to close out a series.”

It really looked as though the Avalanche had the series in the bag after MacKinnon found the back of the net twice in the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead early. Gabriel Landeskog would strike first in the second period to make it 3-0 for the Avs, but the Blues simply refused to go down, scoring four of the next five goals, including a smooth game-tying goal from Robert Thomas with less than a minute to go in regulation.

Beating the rejuvenated Blues this coming Friday will be easier said than done for the MacKinnon and the Avalanche, but there's a reason why they are the favorites to win this series.