ST. PAUL, Minn. – Despite a strange three-day break between games, it wasn’t the National Hockey League that delayed this playoff series. It was the Minnesota Wild.
It took until Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche, here Saturday night, for the Wild to find their own game and prove they can compete against the National Hockey League’s best team.
Everything that went wrong for the Wild when they spotted the Avalanche a two-game head start in Denver went right for them in a 5-1 win in Minnesota that was the team’s first second-round playoff victory in the State of Hockey since 2013.
Kirill Kaprizov had one goal and three points, matched by teammate Brock Faber, and Quinn Hughes contributed a goal and an assist as Minnesota’s best players far outplayed Colorado stars.
Wild special teams, pulverized since the playoffs began, produced a pair of goals while Minnesota scored another at four-on-four. And the goaltending concern was suddenly shoved down to Colorado’s end of the ice as Avalanche starter Scott Wedgewood was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots, while Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt returned from a contentious one-game rest and stopped 35 of 36.
It was the Avalanche’s first loss since April 11, ending a nine-game winning streak that included the Stanley Cup favourites’ first six playoff games.
It is now “Game On!” in the series.
Unaccustomed to speaking to the media after losses, Colorado coach Jared Bednar had lots stored up after the Avalanche surrendered goals 93 seconds apart late in the first period and weren’t really in the game after that.
The series is suddenly close, but Saturday’s contest was not.
“There was a level they hit that we didn’t get to,” Bednar told reporters. “I saw it in flashes, I saw it in some guys but not with others. If you’re going to win a hockey game against a really good team in the playoffs, it’s got to be everyone — and everyone all the time. It’s not, you know, here and there from certain guys. It has to be everybody.”
Bednar said his players didn’t match the Wild’s determination and compete level.
How can the Avalanche have more of those things in Game 4?
“I don’t coach that,” he said. “I mean… it’s not something we’re coaching. It’s something that now we felt (from the Wild), OK? We saw where the level of that game went to with their team, and now we have to respond and answer in kind. What do I do, walk in and say, ‘We’ve got to be more determined and compete harder?’ They’re going to see the video, and the video doesn’t lie, right? It’s something that comes from within. It’s not my job to sort of coach that out of them. I’ll do what I have to do when we enter the next game as far as deployment. But, like, we’ve got to look within a little bit here.”
Bednar made sure to get his team’s attention, just in case the Wild hadn’t succeeded.
“I thought we came out with desperation,” Faber said. “I think, you know, there’s no excuses for the way we played (Games 1 and 2). It was a quick turnaround after an emotional series in Dallas (in Round 1). We needed to move on quicker, and I think we didn’t bring our best in Colorado. But tonight was a lot better. Tonight was the way we play.”
On special teams, the Wild had been outscored by seven goals through eight playoff games, half of them wins. They’ve been largely dominant at five-on-five.
But in Game 3, they scored twice on the power play and once at four-on-four to chase Wedgewood in the first 25 minutes.
And when the Colorado power play, three-for-seven through the series’ first two games, finally cut into a 0-3 deficit during a goalmouth pileup at 13:11 of the middle period, Minnesota got a lucky bounce to restore its three-goal lead during a delayed penalty just 20 seconds later.
The most surprising shift from Game 2 to Game 3 was in the goal creases, as Wedgewood was yanked while Wallstedt responded impressively to sitting out on Tuesday when Minnesota backup Filip Gustavsson was leaky in a 5-2 loss.
“It was fun just to play hockey again,” Wallstedt said. “It felt like we, as a team, played really good and got the result we wanted.”
Did he feel more pressure coming back with his team down 0-2 in the series?
“No, I think they’re the ones with pressure,” Wallstedt argued. “We know what we can do in our home rink. We’ve played great hockey here. I think they know if they give up one (goal), we’re coming for the next one. And I think we showed that today: we were not happy with 2-0. We wanted to go out and play better today. And now it’s a 2-1 series and we’re right back in it.”
With lots of open ice and stationary Avalanche players, Kaprizov made it 1-0 at four-on-four at 15:11 of the opening period, catching both Brock Nelson and Brett Kulak flat-footed as he sped to the net with the puck, waited for Wedgewood to commit and scored on a forehand.
“Four on four is a little different,” Nelson said. “Obviously, we got pushed back a bit (in our zone) and I was just a little slow picking up a little bit of the space to cut through.”
Hughes doubled the lead at 16:44 on Minnesota’s first power play. Seeing Wedgewood had lost his stick, Hughes moved to his right with the puck across the top of the slot and then fired back to his left past the goalie’s stickless side.
The Wild power play made it 3-0 at 4:23 of the second when Mats Zuccarello’s shot-pass deflected up off defenceman Cale Makar before getting touched by Ryan Hartman as it was tumbling short-side past Wedgewood.
And after Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado into an unguarded net at 13:11 after Minnesota penalty-killer Daemon Hunt took out both Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog and his own goalie, the Wild got another bounce to make it 4-1.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s shot from left wing on a three-on-two was saved by Colorado reliever Mackenzie Blackwood, only to have the puck bounce back into the net off Faber.
It was the only goal Blackwood surrendered in 13 shots. Matt Boldy finished the scoring into an empty net.
Whether serious or just trying to be motivational, Bednar said he’ll have a decision to make about his goalie for Game 4. After a breakthrough regular season, Wedgewood has started all seven playoff games for the Avalanche.
“Well, it’s not going to be a confidence problem,” Bednar said of his team’s response. “You’re looking at two teams very evenly matched (so) you knew we were going to be in a series, right? You knew this was going to be the toughest one yet that we’ve played in the playoffs because of the team we’re playing, the venue, having a 2-0 series lead (and) their season is… somewhat on the line tonight. And they responded. So now we’re in a 2-1 series, and it’s going to be up to us to respond the next game. It’s really that simple. I mean, if your confidence is wavering after one loss in the playoffs, then your focus isn’t in the right place.
“It’s kind of like, you know, are you going to be the hammer or you going to be the nail?”