Comeback complete. Series over.
The Colorado Avalanche are headed back to the Western Conference Final for the second time in the last five seasons after storming back from a 3-0 deficit to stun the Minnesota Wild in dramatic fashion.
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With just 1:23 remaining in regulation, Nathan MacKinnon ignited Ball Arena with a breathtaking wrister that tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime, capping off a furious Colorado comeback.
The magic only intensified in the extra period.
Moments before the winning sequence, Martin Nečas recognized a delayed line change and jumped onto the ice at precisely the right moment. Rather than skating alongside MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog on the top unit, Necas found himself briefly deployed with Parker Kelly and Jack Drury on the fourth line — a wrinkle that changed the series.
After Kelly delivered a clean outlet pass, Necas curled behind the net and spotted Brett Kulak sneaking into open ice. Kulak hammered a one-timer past the outstretched glove of the Minnesota netminder, sending the Avalanche into celebration and eliminating the Wild in five games of their best-of-seven series.
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Mackenzie Blackwood lasted one period as he allowed three goals on 13 shots before Scott Wedgewood took over in the second and stopped all seven shots he faced.
It was also the first time since 2008 that the Avalanche had clinched a playoff series at home since defeating, ironically, the Minnesota Wild.
Just 34 seconds into the game, Marcus Johansson gave the Wild an immediate jolt, one-timing a feed from Matt Boldy from the slot to put Minnesota ahead 1-0 before the Avalanche had even settled in.
From the opening shift, the Wild made it clear they had no intention of going quietly. Minnesota established an aggressive forecheck early, finishing checks, forcing turnovers and swarming Colorado’s defensemen whenever they touched the puck. The Avalanche struggled to handle the pressure through the opening minutes and looked rattled by the pace and physicality.
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Yakov Trenin, arguably Minnesota’s most relentless checker, set the tone physically. Less than five minutes into the game, he leveled Parker Kelly with a heavy hit before following it up with a cross-check to Kelly’s lower back that went uncalled.
Near the midway point of the period, Brent Burns tied up Mats Zuccarello in front of the Colorado net before wrestling him down to the ice after the whistle. The two exchanged shoves and punches while Zuccarello was on his back, adding even more tension to an already heated opening frame.
At 11:03 of the first period, Nick Foligno doubled Minnesota’s lead after tapping home a pass from former Avalanche forward Nico Sturm. It was a puck that Mackenzie Blackwood appeared to track initially, but it slipped underneath him through the five-hole and slowly crossed the line to make it 2-0.
Colorado briefly caught a break later in the period when Michael McCarron appeared to extend the lead to 3-0 by knocking a loose puck into the net. After review, officials ruled he had batted the puck in with his hand, overturning the goal. Still, the sequence wasn’t without damage for Colorado, as Gabriel Landeskog was assessed a hooking penalty during the play. The Avalanche penalty kill managed to survive the ensuing Wild pressure and, at least temporarily, kept the game within reach.
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Minnesota wasn’t done. With 4:04 remaining in the period, Foligno struck again for his second goal of the night after Sturm generated a pair of dangerous rebounds on consecutive shots. Blackwood survived the first chance, but the second rebound kicked directly into the slot, where Foligno batted it home to push the Wild lead to 3-0.
By the end of the opening 20 minutes, the Wild held a commanding 3-0 advantage while narrowly leading the shot count 13-11. But the score hardly reflected how lopsided the period felt. Colorado looked disorganized defensively, overwhelmed physically and shaky in net.
After an opening frame that could only be described as disastrous, it became increasingly clear that Scott Wedgewood deserved serious consideration for the second period — unless the Avalanche were intent on taking the far more difficult route toward a Western Conference Final berth by trying to clinch the series on the road instead.
Colorado didn’t have many high danger chances in the opening frame, but Logan O’Connor had a prime opportunity to get the Avs on the board in the early stages of the second. However, his one-timer just missed a wide-open net as his shot sailed by the left post.
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Parker Kelly scored his second of the playoffs with nine minutes left in the second when he redirected a point wrister from Brent Burns to put the Avalanche on the board.
With less than five minutes left in the frame, Ross Colton detonated two vicious hits on Quinn Hughes that dropped the Wild defenseman to the ice and to the roar of the crowd inside Ball Arena.
The Avalanche went on their first power play with 3:08 left in the period after Damila Yurov high-sticked Cale Makar in the face. The need for Colorado to convert on this man advantage appeared critical. Unfortunately for Colorado, the power play appeared completely out of sync.
The Avs went back into the room trailing 3-1 entering the third period. Shots were in favor of Colorado 21-16.
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Scott Wedgewood made a critical save in the early stages of the third period after Vladimir Tarasenko was knocked down at center-ice by Nic Roy, but still managed to get back in the play, scoop up a loose puck, and fire a shot on net from the left circle. However, when the Avs needed a save, Wedgewood was there to keep his team in contention.
The early portion of the period was largely underwhelming as far as action is concerned. Valeri Nichushkin had a bit of a scary moment after he lost an edge and crashed into Wallstedt, knocking the net off its moorings. Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello appeared to check on Nichushkin after the play as well in what appeared to be a cool moment of sportsmanship.
Just past the halfway mark of the game, there was a major scare for the Avalanche when Cale Makar appeared to injure his right arm following what looked like a relatively harmless collision with Mats Zuccarello. Makar immediately grabbed at the arm in visible discomfort before heading straight down the tunnel.
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The sequence raised concern given that Makar missed multiple games near the end of the regular season with an upper-body injury after taking a heavy hit from Adam Klapka. It’s entirely possible this was a re-aggravation of that same issue. Throughout the night, Makar was also seen repeatedly speaking with trainers between shifts, a strong indication that something had been bothering him well before he exited.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding their star defenseman, who eventually returned to the game, the Avalanche refused to fold.
Ball Arena erupted with 3:33 remaining in regulation when Jack Drury cut the deficit to one. After Nicolas Roy moved the puck to Devon Toews at the point, Toews fired a low wrister toward the net that Drury perfectly redirected past the goaltender to breathe life back into Colorado.
And as it turned out, the goal did far more than simply give the Presidents’ Trophy winners a fighting chance — it ignited a stunning comeback that ultimately ended with the Avalanche tying the game late and winning it in overtime.
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The opening period went about as sideways as anyone in Ball Arena could have imagined. Every bounce seemed to favor Minnesota. The crowd was stunned. The Avalanche looked rattled. And yet, on the bench, there was never a sense of panic.
Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog, and the rest of Colorado’s veteran core kept believing the game would turn if they stayed with it long enough. Shift by shift, hit by hit, they dragged themselves back into the fight.
“Playoff hockey,” Gabe Landeskog said. “You just don’t stop playing until the final buzzer goes. Especially here in front of our fans, I mean we felt the energy all night. They came out to a super-fast start, and we got a little shell-shocked in the first period. We expected a better start out of ourselves and they capitalized on chances. But we also knew there was a lot of time to dig our way out of it. So we knew if we got one, that’s kind of all we needed.
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“Obviously, going into the third, being down two goals isn’t ideal, but we’ve been there plenty of times, and in an environment like this, the building felt like it was going to start shaking at any moment. It was exciting. And now it’s kind of a sigh of relief, obviously. Proud of everybody.”
It felt like watching a heavyweight absorb an early barrage in a title fight — bloodied, backed against the ropes, but still dangerous. The Wild threw everything they had at Colorado in those opening moments. But eventually, the pressure started pushing back the other way. The cracks formed. The legs got heavier. And against a team with this much firepower and experience, even the smallest opening can become fatal.
That’s what happened to an outstanding Minnesota Wild team against these Colorado Avalanche.
Now, the Avalanche sit just one series victory away from the Stanley Cup Final.
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