The Minnesota Wild prevailed in a gritty, low-scoring series against Dallas in the first round, but the Western Conference semifinals started with an offensive explosion.
The Colorado Avalanche put eight goals by Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt in Sunday’s 9-6 Game 1 victory. Colorado hopes to hit the road with a 2-0 series lead after it hosts the Wild for Game 2 on Tuesday night in Denver.
Minnesota allowed just 15 goals in its six-game first-round win over the Stars — and never more than four in a game. The Avalanche had four in less than 25 minutes Sunday night and added four more in the third period.
The Wild will again play without top-line center Joel Eriksson Ek and their best defensive blueliner, Jonas Brodin, neither of whom made the trip to Denver. Their absences were felt Sunday night when a rested Colorado team jumped on Minnesota, which had a quick turnaround in comparison.
“There’s no excuses,” Wild winger Marcus Foligno said. “You lose Brodin and Eker, that changes things. But you can say the same thing for them. It’s very tough to come in. We’ve got a team that’s used to it, and really you’re just sitting there for a while, too.”
Minnesota hasn’t lost confidence in its rookie goaltender, who was strong in the first round. However, the Avalanche attacked his glove side for five of their nine goals.
“I mean, they were just really good shots. As a goaltender, I’m not sure you can do much about it,” said Colorado’s Nazem Kadri, who scored the seventh goal with a breakaway shot to Wallstedt’s glove side. “But we certainly wanted to come in and challenge him and force him to make some good saves. And I’m happy we were able to get on the board quite a few times.”
Colorado got a scare in the first period when defenseman Cale Makar left the bench following a big hit by Foligno. Makar played just two shifts in the first 20 minutes but returned in the second period and scored twice in the third period.
Coach Jared Bednar said Makar will be available for Game 2.
“I was just trying to get back and feel good,” Makar said. “It’s not fun when you kind of tweak something, but it happens. Got to be ready for it. Had to check a couple things out, make sure it was good to go.”
The Avalanche were already down hard-hitting defenseman Josh Manson, who missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury suffered in the first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. Manson was close to returning for Game 1 but was held out.
Nick Blankenburg took his spot in the lineup and scored in just the second playoff game of his career. Sam Malinski, who has become strong on the blueline for Colorado, was hit in the face with a puck Sunday night but logged more than 20 minutes of ice time and had two points.
The Wild are confident offensively heading into Tuesday night after getting six goals by Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, but they know they have to be better at the other end of the ice.
“It’s Game 1, they’re up 1-0 and we have to be better as a team defensively,” Minnesota winger Mats Zuccarello said.
–Field Level Media
