Avalanche get critical win over Wild as playoffs near
ST. PAUL, MINN. >> A couple of guys with Minnesota ties were making their first appearance at Xcel Energy Center in a Colorado Avalanche uniform. One State of Hockey great might have been making his last.
But it was the two Halifax Mooseheads who added another chapter to incredible seasons and helped the Avalanche collect a much-needed win Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild to try and keep pace with the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.
Nathan Mackinnon and Jonathan Drouin had three points each to help the Avs fend off the pesky Wild in a 5-2 victory.
The win moved Colorado to within three points of the Stars. Both teams have six games to play.
Mackinnon’s goal 6:32 into the third period gave the Avalanche some much-needed breathing room after the home side had been pushing for an equalizer. Cale Makar checked the puck away from Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek in the high slot, and then Mackinnon and Drouin went to work.
Mackinnon sent the puck to Drouin, who returned the favor with a great pass to set him free for a shot back to the left as Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson got caught leaning too far the other way. It was Mackinnon’s 48th goal of the year. Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal to end any doubt.
Drouin’s first goal gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Colorado caught a break when a tripping penalty was called on Kirill Kaprizov but a simultaneous trip of Eriksson Ek was not adjudicated.
The Avs wasted little time. Drouin batted the rebound of a Makar shot from the top of the zone into the net for his 16th goal of the season.
He added No. 17 just 43 seconds into the second period. Rantanen made a great play to get the play started in the offensive zone, and eventually Drouin tipped a blast from the top of the zone by Mackinnon past Gustavsson to give the Avs a 3-1 lead.
At that point, it felt like Colorado was in control. The Wild clawed back, controlling large portions of the second period and creating lots of quality chances. Declan Chisholm made it a 3-2 score midway through the period with a power-play goal.
The shots were 18-8 in the middle frame, but Justus Annunen made several quality saves. Drouin also made the defensive play of the game in the first minute of the third period.
Matt Boldy pressured Annunen behind the net and the puck squirted out in front of an empty cage. Marcus Johansson had the angle to get to it, but Drouin lifted his stick instead of lunging for the puck and erased the danger.
Artturi Lehkonen put the Avalanche on the board first. Minnesota native
Casey Mittelstadt won a faceoff in the Wild zone, and Lehkonen was able to score on his second try after collecting the rebound of a Jack Johnson point shot 4:34 into the opening period.
The Wild responded less than four minutes later when Vinni Lettieri’s onetimer from the right point beat Annunen off the far post to even the score at 1-1.
This game was the first one back for former Wild glue guy Brandon Duhaime. It might have been the final one at The X for Zach Parise, a Minneapolis native who also played nine seasons for the Wild.