ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Colorado Avalanche showed Monday night why they’re everybody’s favorite to win their second Stanley Cup in five years.
Besides the fact that they rebounded impeccably from a Game 3 loss by dominating the first half of Game 4, they proved their resilience in the third period after Minnesota Wild forward Nico Sturm tied the game.
Maybe the Wild took one giant, premature deep breath, but the Avs responded by pressuring the Wild mightily for three shifts in a row until Jake Middleton’s chip off the glass was picked off for Parker Kelly’s eventual winning goal in a 5-2 win.
The victory puts Colorado one win from the Western Conference final and means the Wild will have to reel off three consecutive victories — starting Wednesday night in Denver — to keep their season alive.
The Wild have rallied from 3-1 deficits to win series twice before — both in 2003, and once against Colorado.
Minnesota was put on the ropes midway through the third when Ross Colton buried Nicolas Roy’s pass after a Daemon Hunt turnover.
But just 2:19 later, Sturm, the former Avalanche Stanley Cup winner and a healthy scratch the first two games of this postseason, tied the game. Robbed twice earlier in the period by Mackenzie Blackwood, Sturm one-timed Quinn Hughes’ pass into a wide-open cage for his first goal of the playoffs and third in 37 career playoff games.
It wasn’t enough, though.
Jesper Wallstedt, especially, deserved better. For a period-and-a-half, Wallstedt, despite the Wild gaining an early 1-0 lead on rookie Danila Yurov’s power-play goal, was a man alone on an island.
He stopped 10 shots in each of the first two periods, with the Wild going nearly 19 minutes without a shot at one point and being outshot 20-4 before registering eight of the final nine shots of the period.
But before that, Yakov Trenin took his second careless penalty of the series, and it led to Nazem Kadri’s game-tying goal six seconds into a power play.
Wallstedt finished with 29 saves.
Blackwood, in his first start of the playoffs, made 18 saves for his fourth career playoff win in nine appearances.
The Avs did a masterful job on Wild stars Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, who had one shot each. Boldy had a particularly tough night, turning pucks over left and right — the final one coming on Nathan MacKinnon’s empty-netter, which was the first of two empty-netters by the Avs (Brock Nelson).
Kadri continues helping Avalanche power play
Colorado’s power play struggled most of the year, but Kadri’s addition helped stabilize it after coming to the Avs from the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline.
From March 8 — Kadri’s first game back with Colorado — to April 7, when he suffered a finger injury, the Avalanche had a 23.4 percent success rate on the power play, ranking ninth in the league. He’s continued to help in the playoffs. Colorado was chugging along at a 23.8 percent clip entering Game 4.
“I just try to be a threat,” he said earlier in the series. “Obviously, I’m playing with great players: facilitate the puck, make sure they get it. Take my looks when I’m there. I’m a nice mix of shooter (and) passer on that flank. It opens up some lanes and some opportunities.”
Kadri kept up the unit’s productivity after Trenin got called for closing his hand on the puck. After the opening faceoff, Martin Nečas muscled Wild defenseman Brock Faber off the puck and passed to Kadri in the slot. Wallstedt initially stopped Kadri, but the Avalanche center got his own rebound and fired it past the goalie, tying the game. It was his ninth career postseason power-play goal for Colorado, tied with Claude Lemieux, Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar for tenth-most in team history.
The goal continued the Wild’s woeful playoff performance on the penalty kill, which went 1-for-2. This was the 10th consecutive game Minnesota has given up a power-play goal, the longest streak since the Red Wings gave up at least one in 13 in a row in the 2009 playoffs. — Baugh
Manson’s butt-end turns first period
Veteran defenseman Josh Manson’s return to the Avalanche lineup from injury almost didn’t last long.
In the first period, Manson landed on the ice after Wild center Michael McCarron finished a check on him. Manson locked McCarron’s head with both his hands, then attempted to butt-end McCarron in the neck area.
McCarron got up fuming and contended to both refs that he was butt-ended. Referees Jean Hebert and Trevor Hanson called a major so they could review.
After a long video review, the referees apparently couldn’t confirm that Manson landed the butt-end, so they downgraded the major to a double minor (Rule 58.2) for attempting a butt-end. According to the NHL, it was only the fourth time since 2000 that penalty had been called.
In a text to The Athletic, former NHL referee and ESPN rules analyst Dave Jackson said, “There is a double minor for attempted butt-ending. If they cannot determine absolutely that the stick hit him but the attempt was made, then the double minor is the proper call.”
The Wild didn’t generate much on the first power play, but on the back half of the double minor, Yurov redirected Faber’s shot for his first career playoff goal. The Wild carried that 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
McCarron told ESPN’s PK Subban between periods that Manson is a “dirty player. Always has been. Surprised he only got away with a four-minute. I’m happy he’s still in the game.” — Russo
Yurov continues strong play in place of Eriksson Ek
Yurov has gotten better as his first playoffs have gone on, and he finally got rewarded Monday. Yurov, getting enhanced opportunities with the injury to Joel Eriksson Ek, cashed in with a power-play goal in the first period.
Yurov, 22, has been playing on the second line with Marcus Johansson and Boldy, who said the Russian rookie is trying to play more like Eriksson Ek in his two-way game. Yurov now has a point in three of the four games of this series.
“I think he played a heck of a game (in Game 3), but I think he’s played really well in the series,” coach John Hynes said before Game 4. “His details are good. I think he’s filling in well with, got some chemistry with (Boldy) and (Johansson). I think he probably could have a few more points in the series than he does. But from a skating standpoint, a competitive standpoint, the way he controls the ice, his details in the defensive zone and breakouts have been very good.” — Smith
Injuries mount — on both sides
The Avs played Game 4 without defenseman Sam Malinski and forward Artturi Lehkonen, who are both out with upper-body injuries, the team announced.
Both were significant losses for Colorado. Malinski had a breakout season, finishing with 40 points in 82 games and leading all NHL defenseman with a plus-43 rating. He’s played on Colorado’s second pair with Brett Kulak during these playoffs, averaging 19:59 a game. The Minnesota native scored the first goal of the series in Game 1.
Lehkonen, an elite forechecker, has played in Colorado’s top six during the playoffs. He had 48 points in 70 games this season and has six points in seven games in the playoffs.
Manson, injured in Game 3 of the Los Angeles series, returned, and Jack Ahcan, who spent most of the season with AHL Colorado, made his playoff debut. They were together on the third pair, with Brent Burns sliding up to play with Kulak.
Joel Kiviranta entered the lineup for Lehkonen. He played the first two games of the Avs’ first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings before coming out for Colton. He suffered an undisclosed injury at some point, but coach Jared Bednar said Monday morning that he would be an option for Game 4.
The Wild were without defenseman Jonas Brodin for the fifth game in a row and Eriksson Ek for a fourth game in a row.
Eriksson Ek was sore after his practice on Friday and has only skated lightly since. He’s “touch and go,” said Hynes, who didn’t know yet if he’ll be able to travel to Denver for Game 5. — Baugh and Russo