DENVER (AP) — Josh Manson scored 8:02 into overtime, Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in his return to the net from an eye injury, and the Colorado Avalanche overcame a sluggish start to beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Manson sent a shot from near the blue line through a sea of players that went in just over the shoulder of Jordan Binnington.

Valeri Nichushkin and Samuel Girard also scored for an Avalanche team that had a weeklong layoff after sweeping Nashville. Colorado outshot the Blues by a 54-25 margin, including 13-0 in OT. The Avalanche also hit three posts and two crossbars.

Ryan O’Reilly had a first-period goal and Jordan Kyrou tied it late for St. Louis. Binnington kept the Blues close with one sprawling save after another. He stopped 51 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, PANTHERS 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and Tampa Bay beat Florida in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist, and Ross Colton also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who went ahead 1-0 against their in-state rivals for the second consecutive season.

Over Vasilevskiy’s last three games — all of them wins, including Game 7 at Toronto on Sunday — he’s stopped 94 of 99 shots.

Anthony Duclair had the goal for Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida, which got 32 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Florida has lost seven consecutive Game 1s — a streak that goes back to 1997.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A fan?

Follow your favorite teams