Yelle Pushes Blues to Brink

This time, Stephane Yelle didn’t miss the net.

Yelle, who hit the goal post in overtime of Game 3, scored on a deflection at 4:23 of overtime as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, on Friday night to take a 3-1 series lead in the NHL Western Conference finals.

Yelle redirected a shot by Rob Blake past Roman Turek, who had recovered nicely after giving up goals on three consecutive shots in a 1:18 span midway through the first period. It was Yelle’s first goal of the playoffs.

“It’s so great for Yelle to get the winning goal after missing that open net,” Coach Bob Hartley said. “Rob Blake made an unbelievable play, and when you drive at the net you give yourself a chance to tip some pucks, and that’s what happened.”

After Game 3, Yelle said his failure probably would stick with him for a while.

“I was disappointed,” Yelle said. “But the next day I knew we had a big game and I had to get ready. It feels good. I can’t remember the last time I had a game-winner in overtime.”

The Avalanche, which has lost in the conference finals the last three years, can wrap up the series Monday night at home. Colorado was last in the finals in 1996, and won the Stanley Cup that season.

“We don’t feel great right now,” Blues’ forward Scott Mellanby said. “We’re not doing cartwheels in here, that’s for sure. This is going to be the ultimate test.”

Joe Sakic, scoreless in Games 2 and 3, had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. Steven Reinprecht and Ray Bourque also scored for Colorado, 5-2 on the road in the playoffs. The Avalanche had been 0-3 in overtime in the postseason.

“We were due to win one in OT,” Bourque said. “But it’s far from being over because we know what kind of team they have.”

Pierre Turgeon had two goals and Jamal Mayers forced overtime for the Blues, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Patrick Roy.

Mayers, who had eight goals in the regular season, tied it on the Blues’ first shot of the third period. Mayers, stationed just outside the crease, tapped a setup from behind the net by Jochen Hecht just inside the far post.

Turek, who has given up seven first-period goals in the series, was briefly pulled after giving up the three goals. The flurry silenced a sellout crowd of 20,072, the Blues’ largest of the season.

“I think you can’t talk tonight about soft goals,” Turek said. “They didn’t score a soft goal in this game. I could stop some of the goals, but they weren’t soft goals.”

Rookie goalie Brent Johnson made his first appearance of the playoffs, but it was brief. Coach Joel Quenneville put Turek back in at the next stoppage in play 1:23 later.