The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild are set to play the first elimination game of their second-round series tonight at Ball Arena in Downtown Denver, CO.
Colorado holds a 3-1 series lead and can clinch the series tonight by eliminating a team and advancing on home ice for the first time in this new championship era.
On the other side, it’s all about desperation and replicating what the Wild achieved in game three. If Minnesota wants to extend the series to six or seven games, they will have to be at their best.
So who will it be in game five? Let’s get prepared for the action!
Colorado Avalanche: 7-1
The Opponent: Minnesota Wildav (5-5)
Time: 6:00 p.m. MT
Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, TNT
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
A lot happened during game three, but it was what we found out before the game started that has fans a bit worried. The attendance of Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen at morning skate, just to be pulled from the lineup for upper body injuries, can only be labeled as a bit of gamesmanship from Jared Bednar.
Well, he’s doubled down on that, as we still don’t have an update on either guy. I guess it’s safe to wait to see who hits the ice this time of year.
The Avalanche would do well to put this series away tonight, with guys clearly needing some time to mend, and the other series in the west destined for at least six games.
I have three keys to a Colorado Avalanche victory:
- Stay out of the penalty box.
- Insulate your goalie.
- Earn goals the right way.
Parker Kelly scored the game-winner last time out. Still, the adjustment I’d like to see from him in particular is to avoid taking silly penalties or getting involved in any more coincidental roughing minors.
The Wild have struggled to score at 5-on-5 against the Avalanche, and any version of the Avalanche with four or fewer players on the ice seems to be their best bet at getting on the board.
We still don’t know who will get the nod, but if the “ride the hot hand” logic still holds, it should be MacKenzie Blackwood’s net yet again.
Either way, the Avalanche can’t chase this game and has to keep the Wild in front of them.
We’ve seen how goals are scored this time of year, and I’m not sure how much more proof this Avs team needs. Get the puck toward the net and battle in the tough areas, and you’ll be rewarded. Do it well enough, and you’ll earn yourself a couple of days off!
Projected Lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Ross Colton — Brock Nelson — Nicolas Roy
Valeri Nichushkin — Nazem Kadri — Logan O’Connor
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Brett Kulak — Brent Burns
Jack Ahcan — Josh Manson
MacKenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Minnesota Wild
Wild head coach John Hynes was not too pleased with his club following their game four loss, stating his team made a “conscious decision” not to play the way they know they can and have to against the Avalanche.
They have been leaning hard on their top pair with Quinn Hughes logging 34+ minutes of ice time in game four, and with Joonas Brodin still on the mend, I don’t expect that to change.
Brodin and Joel Eriksson-Ek did not make the trip to Denver, so the Wild will have to find a way with who’ve they have gone with so far this series.
Here are three keys to victory for the Wild:
- Score early.
- Stay aggressive
- Draw penalties.
The start of game three was promising for the Wild as they cashed in on the double minor and got on the board first. Before game four, the Wild were 4-0 in games in which they scored first.
I’d say they still want to get out on the front foot, especially in front of what will be a raucous crowd at Ball Arena.
What Minny didn’t do in game four was keep the pedal to the medal and force Colorado out of their structure by building on that lead.
Lastly, as mentioned previously, the Wild have had their most dangerous looks in power play and 4-on-4 situations, so I expect a lot of post-whistle shenanigans to open up some ice for ‘Kirill the Thrill.’
Speaking of post-whistle shenanigans, the Wild could go for retribution after Manson’s butt-end incident and Michael McCarron’s intermission callout.
It would be pretty silly to do that during an elimination game, but you never know!
Projected Lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Danila Yurov — Matt Boldy
Yakov Trenin — Michael McCarron — Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Foligno — Nico Sturm — Nick Foligno
Quinn Hughes — Brock Faber
Daemon Hunt — Jared Spurgeon
Jacob Middleton — Zach Bogosian
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
