Game 2 Preview: Minnesota Wild Look To Rebound Against Colorado Avalanche
After falling to the No. 1 seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, the Minnesota Wild will need to recalibrate and rebound on May 5. Minnesota dispatched the Dallas Stars in 6 games in Round 1, while the Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings to get themselves more rest and recovery. Colorado had a week of rest before Round 2, while Minnesota had just a few days.
Game 1 Recap: Wild and Avalanche Score High
Game 1 was high-scoring from the jump, with the Avalanche getting three goals in the first eight minutes of the first period to jump to a 3-0 lead. Sam Malinski, Jack Drury, and Artturi Lehkonen all got goals in that stretch of time.
Their opponents weren’t discouraged enough not to score, though, as Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman scored to cut the lead to 3-2 for the Avalanche. Nick Blankenburg of the Avalanche scored in the second period to make the lead 4-2, then the Wild responded fantastically, with Vladimir Tarasenko, Quinn Hughes, and Marcus Foligno scoring unanswered goals in the second period to make the score 5-4, Minnesota.
Devon Teows tied the score at 5-5 for the Avalanche late in the second period, leaving all to play for in the third period. Cale Makar, who had taken a bad hit in the first period, returned in the third in a huge way for the Avalanche. He scored the go-ahead goal three minutes in, followed by Nazem Kadri’s goal.
The Wild continued to fight, with Mats Zuccarello making the score 6-7 with four minutes of play left. Makar would score once again, though, and Nathan MacKinnon’s empty-net goal sealed the 9-6 win for the Avalanche.
The Wild were playing without two key players who were out with lower-body injuries. Defenseman Jonas Brodin and Center Joel Eriksson Ek. were both injured in Round 1.
For Minnesota, Goalie Jesper Wallstedt faced 42 shots and saved 34. For Colorado, Goalie Scott Wedgewood faced 36 shots and saved 30. Both performed well in a high-scoring game. The Avalanche had a defenseman score at least 10 points in Game 1. They were only the fifth team in NHL history to do so.
Post-Game 1 Reactions
Foligno had positive things to say about the Wild’s performance in Game 1. “Definitely a bit more positive if it wasn’t 9-0, right?” he said. “The game was always in grasp and having the lead, too. It was a crazy game, but knowing that goal scoring is going well, that’s not an issue. Just got to clean up the defensive side of the game.”
Wallstedt reflected on the difference between the Stars and the Avalanche. “They’re definitely a different team than Dallas was. Dallas is looking for chances. They didn’t shoot a lot off the rush, and they didn’t get a lot of pucks on the net, and this team was way different. They try to get everything. They get good traffic. They get good tips and everything. It was definitely a different game for me today than it was against Dallas.”
The Avalanche weren’t thrilled that the Wild managed to score 6 goals. “Depth is going to be critical. That’s the way you’re going to win,” team captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “You’re going to need everybody. Tonight, we got offensive contributions from everybody, and now we need to make sure we get the defensive game out of everybody. I know a lot of us can be better there.”
Game 2 Preview
Both teams have things to work on in Game 2. The Wild allowed unanswered goals from the Avalanche early on, and Wallstedt allowed more goals than usual. However, Minnesota bounced back excellently to score 6 goals in the end. With a tighter defense, they should have a better Game 2.
The Avalanche allowed an uncharacteristic number of goals and lost the lead at one point, something they rarely experienced against the Kings. Their offense was strong, but as with the Wild, their defense needs to be tighter. They are surely hoping for another sweep, but that may not happen with the way that the Wild have been playing.
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