During an unusually long break in the second round after Colorado took a 2-0 series lead on Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov could not help but to think about hockey.
What was on his mind?
“How you want to beat these guys next game," Kaprizov said.
Kaprizov and the Wild did exactly that, cutting their deficit to 2-1 by jumping out to a two-goal lead and defeating the Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday night. It was much closer to how Minnesota has looked in recent
weeks and months.
“We’re right back in it,” said goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who made 35 saves in his return to the net. “We proved to everyone and ourself that, when we play the right way, when we play the game style we want to play, we’re just as good as anyone else.”
Now it is up to Colorado to bounce back after the NHL's best team in the regular season lost for the first time this playoffs following a first-round sweep of Los Angeles and a 7-0 start. Game 4 is Monday night in St. Paul (8 p.m. EDT, ESPN).
“You’re looking at the two teams, very evenly matched, and you knew you were going to be in for a series: 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,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “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."
Bednar and his staff have an important call to make on who is in goal after Scott Wedgewood was pulled in favor of Mackenzie Blackwood after giving up three goals on 12 shots to begin Game 3. Wedgewood played the entire first round against Dallas after he started 43 and Blackwood 36 games during the regular season.
Blackwood allowed one goal on 13 shots in relief.
“I thought Blackwood was good," Bednar said afterward. "It was a little bit of a tough break, a bad-angle shot. It hits him. He does his job, saves it and it goes back off (Brock) Faber’s pads. It’s the only one he gave up. He made some big saves in there, gave us a good chance. So, yeah, we’ll talk about it and make a decision.”
Bednar told reporters Sunday there was a lot of talk about how to structure the forward lines in Game 4 after not getting what he wanted from them in his team's first loss since April 11. Bednar also called injured defenseman Josh Manson close to coming back after missing the past four games, with winger Joel Kiviranta also a possibility to play.
Minnesota has not had Joel Eriksson Ek yet this series, though the key center is skating and appears to be nearing a return. Without him, the Wild were outscored 14-8 in the first two games at Colorado.
Kaprizov, Faber and Quinn Hughes all scoring on Saturday night kept them from getting pushed to the brink of elimination. In addition to a goal apiece, the trio combined for five assists in Game 3.
“It’s nice when you have high-end players like that that have played in high-stakes environments and they play their best when the stakes are the highest,” coach John Hynes said. “They’re all extremely smart. They’re very hard-working. They take pride in their game and in the team’s game, but when the moments get hot, all those guys prove time and time again that they can bring their best in those environments.”
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AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
