Brett Kulak made light of his heroics Wednesday.

The Colorado Avalanche defenseman’s overtime game-winner was the final salvo in a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the visiting Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  

Kulak received a pass from winger Martin Necas and buried his shot from the right circle at the 3:52 mark, lifting Colorado to its first series-clinching home win since 2008. The Avalanche trailed 3-0 midway through the second period. 

“You always like to dream about it but like I say, the player I am, I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench at like, ‘All right get out there and go win it for us,’” Kulak said. 

Depth has paved the way for Colorado for the entirety of the playoffs and Wednesday was no different. Entering Game 5, the Avalanche had 16 goal scorers in the team’s first eight playoff games, tied for the third most in franchise history. Kulak’s overtime winner makes 17.

After a disastrous first period for the Avalanche, it seemed the Wild’s depth would be the ultimate difference maker in Game 5 at Ball Arena. The visitors raced out to a 3-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes with Wild’s fourth line earning two of the scores. Center Nico Sturm found right wing Nick Foligno twice in the first period, marking the forward’s first goals of the postseason. 

Colorado returned the favor as its first two scores came from players on the fourth line. 

Eleven minutes into the second period, Avalanche left wing Parker Kelly redirected a shot from defenseman Brent Burns. Kulak earned the secondary assist, which Kelly would repay with the second assist on Kulak’s game-winner.

Late in the third period, Colorado scored its second goal in similar fashion courtesy of Jack Drury. The fourth-line center deflected a shot in from defenseman Devon Toews at 16:27 of the third frame.

The Avalanche kept the pressure on and center Nathan MacKinnon netted the equalizer just over two minutes later to a roaring crowd at Ball Arena. 

“Their fourth line was great,” Kelly said. “They came out and I think they had two goals. I thought it had been a good matchup all series, just really good depth going at it and we capitalized on some our chances too. So they got two goals from their fourth line, we got two goals from ours and then Nate ties it up late, and then (Kulak), another depth defenseman, gets it done.

“Like I said before, the whole mantra this season is next man up mentality and there’s opportunities for guys out there. It’s just about staying ready, you don’t know when your opportunity is going to come and just about bearing down on your chances.”