ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Colorado Avalanche flexed. But what was most impressive about their display of muscle on Monday against the Minnesota Wild is the guys who did the heaviest lifting in the third period were not the stars.
Fourth-line winger Parker Kelly, a 21-goal scorer during the National Hockey League’s regular season, scored from Jack Drury’s determined setup to break a tie at 11:32 of the third period and send the Avalanche to a 5-2 victory that moved the Stanley Cup favourites within one win of advancing to the Western Conference Final.
After letting Minnesota into the second-round series on Saturday, when the Wild cut a 2-0 series deficit in half with their own 5-2 win, Colorado absolutely dominated the first half of Monday’s game and, critically, that game-deciding minutes that followed Nico Sturm’s tying goal for Minnesota at 9:15 of the third period.
In a five-minute span, the Avalanche attempted 14 shots, put six pucks on Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, registered four hits and generally didn’t let Minnesota out of its end.
Colorado defenceman Josh Manson got away (sort of) with butt-ending Minnesota centre Michael McCarron in the face, but the Wild were floored by the Avalanche’s punch to the chops.
Backup goalie Mackenzie Blackwood started for Colorado for the first time in nearly a month and made 19 saves. Depth scorer Ross Colton also beat Wallstedt in the third period. And superstar Nathan MacKinnon, after taking a puck in the face at the end of the second period, played seven minutes in the third and scored an empty-netter.
This is what a Stanley Cup contender looks like.
“For me, the biggest change from last game to this game is we were a more determined group,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “To a man, just more determined and committed to playing the right way. I didn’t hate our details last game. . . but I thought that we got outcompeted in that game a little bit. And tonight we kind of swung it back in our favour and guys went to work. Relentless all over the rink — we just looked quicker.
“Looking at our roster and the way the game went, there’s a lot to like. I didn’t think we had any passengers tonight from our goaltender out. Guys played hard, regardless of ice time. Every time they hit the ice, they were ready to go. You have to be pretty happy with that.”
Top-six winger Artturi Lehkonen and second-pairing defenceman Sam Malinski were surprise injury scratches for Colorado after taking the morning skate.
Five-foot-eight defenceman Jack Ahcan made his NHL playoffs debut, and the Avalanche also got back from injury winger Joel Kiviranta and Manson, the rugged defenceman.
But Manson’s game came close to ending just 7:07 into the first period. Taken hard into the boards by McCarron, the players wrestled briefly on the ice before Manson delivered a quick chop with the back of his right hand, hitting McCarron on the side of the face with the butt of his stick.
Referees Jean Hebert and Trevor Hanson huddled with linesmen Ryan Gibbons and Shandor Alphonso and called a five-minute major, but upon review downgraded Manson’s penalty to a double minor. The Wild went ahead 1-0 on Danila Yurov’s power-play goal, but Manson stayed in the game.
McCarron was incensed, and during a first-intermission interview with ESPN’s P.K. Subban said: “I mean, you played against Josh. He’s a dirty player. He’s always been. Surprised he got away with only a four-minute. I’m happy he’s still in the game.”
“I mean, he hits me, but then he lands on me,” Manson told reporters after the game. “So I don’t really like that, to be honest with you. We’re in a scrum, and I just, I mean, I butt-ended him. Was it on purpose? Was that my intention? Absolutely not. Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head, yeah.
“I was trying to give him a smack because I didn’t like that he landed on me. I didn’t think that was fully necessary. You know, I served my four-minute penalty. It wasn’t my intention to butt-end him in the face; it was more trying to smack him in the head. I think I just lost awareness of where the grip was.”
Told about McCarron’s comments, Manson said: “That’s fine. If he wants to call me a dirty player, you can just look at my history. I mean, it’s been 13 years (in the NHL) and I haven’t been suspended yet, so obviously I’m not that dirty.”
Manson adds another element to the Avalanche, who were flying around the ice.
“I think it’s from top to bottom,” star defenceman Cale Makar said of his team’s ability to surge like it did after the Wild pulled even. “When you see the top guys elevating, I think it trickles down the lineup and vice versa. If the bottom guys are going, I feel like we’ve got to pick up our game (at the top of the lineup). And there’s a lot of communication going on. We knew they were going to push but we wanted to be the more desperate team, especially at that point. I felt like we were able to hound them and stay on them.”
Minnesota defencemen Zach Bogosian and Jake Middleton each had giveaways before Kelly’s game-winner, which came after Drury out-battled Sturm along the boards to knock down the puck and send it across to Kelly for a one-timer.
Nicolas Roy intercepted Daemon Hunt’s clearance to beautifully set up Colton’s backside goal at 6:56 of the third period.
“I think everybody can be the hero or tilt the ice in our direction at any point in the game,” Roy said. “Whether it’s a big goal from the fourth line there, or any line, that works for our advantage.”
“Just the depth of this team, it’s pretty special,” Colton said. “We’ve seen it all year. I mean, this guy (Kelly) scored 20-something. That’s pretty awesome. And again, it’s kind of just the next guy mentality. We switch up the lines a little bit (and) maybe the chemistry is not there for the first couple of shifts. But it’s just up to us to kind of, whoever you’re playing with. . . let’s go out there and make an impact.”
Those five minutes after Sturm scored from Quinn Hughes’ magnificent backhand pass were probably the most impressive of the series for Colorado.
“Just, like, tenacious,” Bednar said. “There was no hesitation on our forecheck. Guys were skating — they weren’t coasting in — so we came up with some turned-over pucks. . . and then we ended up getting rewarded.”
The Avalanche will try to eliminate the Wild in Game 5 Wednesday in Denver.
“I know it’s a cliche, but you can’t sit there and think we’ve got to win three games at once,” Minnesota winger Matt Boldy said after registering one shot and going minus-three in 23:51 of ice time. “You go take care of business there, you come back and go from there. Then you look at the next game, the next one, and whatever happens happens. That’s the approach in this room. And we’re confident in our group.”