Chris MacFarland is a finalist for General Manager of the Year. After how Game 5 finished, his resume looks even better.

Brett Kulak became Colorado’s 16th goal scorer in the series, taking a Martin Necas pass 3:52 into overtime and one-timing it into the back of the net, giving the Avalanche a 4-3 overtime win and eliminating the Minnesota Wild with a 4-1 series win. The goal sent the Avalanche to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2022.

“You need literally everyone to win even a series in this league. It’s so difficult,” Nathan MacKinnon said after the win. “I saw before the game, we have 16 or 17 guys with goals.”

At that point, MacKinnon turned to Kulak, who was sitting on the podium and asked him a question.

“Was that your first one?”

Kulak nodded.

“So another guy,” MacKinnon said with a grin. “I mean, that’s a great stat. That’s the stats you want to see.”

Kulak was the first of MacFarland’s three big deadline additions, joining the team on Feb. 25 from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Sam Girard. They’re very different players and Kulak wasn’t brought in to replace the offense that Girard could create. Instead, they wanted a different look on their blue line.

The Avalanche have the skill, but they felt they needed some beef and a bigger body on defense. They got that in Kulak. Moments before he ended the game, Kulak broke up a 2-on-1 between the Wild’s two star forwards, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

“It’s easy to use him in any situation because he is a reliable, trustworthy, elite defender. That’s what he is,” coach Jared Bednar said.

Of course, any offense is a bonus. During the regular season, there wasn’t much. In 27 games with the Avalanche, Kulak didn’t score a goal and added just three assists. His overtime goal Wednesday night was his first in the burgundy and blue.

“You always like to dream about it, but like you say, the player I am, I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench like, ‘All right, get out there and go win it for us,'” Kulak joked. “It’s been good. It was a tough series. That’s a good team over there. So 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.”

The Avalanche had to depend on Kulak a lot in this game. With no Sam Malinski, Jack Ahcan dressed again, but barely saw the ice, playing just 3:35. Cale Makar is clearly battling through something. He left the game multiple times throughout the night holding his right shoulder. That meant the Avalanche were down to just four defensemen for large portions of the game.

Kulak finished the night behind just Devon Toews in time on ice for the Avalanche. MacFarland brought him in for moments like this because of his postseason experience. As he has for most of the playoffs, Kulak has made him look awfully good for doing so.

As for that stat about 16 different goal scorers, it’s one that Bednar is a big fan of.

“I love it,” Bednar said. “That’s hard to beat.”

The rest of the Western Conference has figured that out by now.

Avalanche 4, Wild 3 (OT)

What happened: Colorado awoke after a brutal first period, clinching its first series win at home since 2008.

What went right: That fourth line for the Avalanche really did a lot of the heavy lifting, as portions of that trio were on the ice for three of Colorado’s four goals. “They’ve been an amazing line all season for us I think they play a huge role for us,” MacKinnon said.

What went wrong: What the heck was that first period? Minnesota jumped on the Avalanche immediately and it looked like it was going to be a long night. Mackenzie Blackwood looked shaky in net, which is why he was pulled, but the team in front of him wasn’t much better.

Avalanche goal scorers: Kelly (2), Drury (2), MacKinnon (7), Kulak (1)

Wild goal scorers: Johansson (4), Foligno (1,2)

Between the pipes: Blackwood stopped just 10 shots, while Scott Wedgewood didn’t have much work in relief. He did stop all seven shots he faced.

What’s next: A break, which Colorado really needs with injuries to Sam Malinski, Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar.