Wild Season Comes To A Close

Colorado rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat Minnesota 4-3 in overtime and clinch the series in five games. The Wild jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on a goal by Marcus Johansson just :34 seconds in and followed it up with two more by Nick Foligno. But the Avs responded with the next four including the game tying goal by Nathan MacKinnon with just 1:23 left in regulation and then Brett Kulak added the overtime game winner 3:52 into O-T to secure the victory and end the Wild’s season. Jesper Wallstedt suffered the loss on 30 saves. Mackenzie Blackwood got the start for the Avalanche but was pulled after the first period after stopping 10 or 13 shots. Scott Wedgewood came in to start the second and stopped all seven shots he faced. Colorado moves on to the Western Conference Finals and will face the winner between Vegas and Anaheim. The Wild advanced out of the first round for the first time since 2015 but fall to 2-2 all time against Colorado in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.