Ryan O'Reilly was credited with a bizarre goal 51 seconds into overtime following an errant clear by defenseman Dan Boyle, giving the Colorado Avalanche a 1-0 victory over San Jose on Sunday night and a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference series.
Craig Anderson was simply splendid in net all night, stopping 51 shots.
Both Evgeni Nabokov and Anderson were locked in on this night after allowing a combined 11 goals in Game 2.
Nabokov didn't have much a chance on the winner. He was hugging the post when Boyle tried to send the puck around the boards as O'Reilly pursued him. The puck wound up sneaking in between Nabokov and the post.
Boyle said scoring a goal in your opponents net was the worst thing that could happen to a player. He said he didn't know how it happened.
Minutes after the loss, his teammates remained confident. No one was pointing fingers, saying what happened to Boyle could have happened to anyone.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Denver.
