The Edmonton Oilers have fired coach Kris Knoblauch after the team took a step back from consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final, according to multiple reports.
The move follows the Oilers' first round exit at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks this season. After the loss, captain Connor McDavid said that the Oilers "were an average team all year" and "just never found it."
Knoblauch had replaced Jay Woodcroft early in the 2023-24 season and led the Oilers to back-to-back 100-point seasons. They advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in each of Knoblauch's first two postseasons, reaching Game 7 in 2024. They lost to the Panthers both times.
The Oilers dropped to 93 points this past season, finishing second in the Pacific Division, and lost in six games to the Ducks.
McDavid will begin a two-year contract extension next season, so it's imperative for the Oilers to show that they can be a Stanley Cup contender before his deal expires.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 27: Ben Kindel #81 of the Pittsburgh Penguins prepares to take the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Five of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Ben Kindel picked up votes and finished ninth in the Calder voting. The award was announced early and handed to the unanimous winner, Matthew Schaefer live on national television.
Considering Kindel in his draft+1 wasn’t even expected to be in the NHL until his training camp performance forced his way into the picture, it’s a nice little recognition to pickup votes. It would have required a lot more points to standout as a top-3 choice in the voting but doesn’t take anything away from the bright future that Kindel has.
While Kindel was stacked up against all rookies for this voting, for added nuance it helps to consider what playing as an 18-year old in the NHL might mean for the future. Via Sportsreference.com we looked at 18-year old forwards since 2005-06, taking out the ringers of this category like first overall picks like Sidney Crosby (102 points), Nathan MacKinnon (63), Macklin Celebrini (63) and Connor Bedard (61) who belong a notch above the ’common’ type of performers at this incredibly young age.
Kindel had the sixth most points of this group, and would rank 12th when including all age-18 forwards. Of this list, only Cole Silinger (picked 12th), Zach Benson (13th), David Pastrnak (25th) and Ryan O’Reilly (33rd) were lower draft picks in their respective drafts than Kindel was, which speaks to the rarity of a forward outside of the top-10 producing points as an 18-year old. In the last 20 years most of the draft+1 forwards are going to be top-10 picks, only a very select handful are going to be in the sample.
This chart can be useful to show areas of growth. There was once a world where Pastranak, a future 60-goal scorer, scored 10 goals in a season (albeit, in 46 games since he spent time in the AHL that season). Jack Hughes, Andrei Svechknikov, Steven Stamkos, Valeri Nichushkin, Ryan O’Reilly and Aleksander Barkov weren’t always the point-producing monsters that they turned into during their first season. There still can be a lot of growth and development for a young player that gets to the NHL on an accelerated path. What you see today isn’t the finished product, plenty of players have doubled, tripled or expanded their production to even greater heights.
Of course, on the flip side the list shows success is not guaranteed by getting to this point either. Players in this sample like Jesper Kotkaniemi, Cole Silinger and Alex Galchenyuk had wonderful rookie seasons that didn’t turn into tremendously impactful careers. Kindel’s age-18 sample doesn’t point him straight to the top, but it’s a good grouping of players to work his way into after being the 11th pick of the draft (that even many observers and experts thought was a reach on draft night, no less).
The Penguins have a lot of reason to be excited about Kindel moving forward. One reason he stuck in the NHL, beyond counting stats, was displaying a good work rate and poise away from the puck. He played center all season and was a boost to the team. The next step should come shortly to integrate him into a scoring line and an increased role on the power play so that he can keep developing his offensive game and hopefully get on the path of some of the other 18-year old NHLers who have gone onto become key players on their teams.
The results of Calder race show that Kindel still has a ways to go in that department, but it’s also worth emphasizing and remembering the rare and impressive accomplishment of sticking in the NHL and having a solid season at such a young age.
The sixth Islanders player to win the Calder: Mathew Barzal (2018, Bryan Berard (1997), Mike Bossy (1978), Bryan Trottier (1976), and Denis Potvin (1974).
The 13th first overall pick to win the Calder
The eighth player to win the award during his age-18 season
The fourth-ever defenseman to win the award
The youngest Calder winning in NHL history at 18 years, 223 days old (Nathan MacKinnon, 2013-14 was 18 years, 224 days)t
The first unanimous Calder winner since Winnipeg Jets forward Teemu Selanne in 1993
The youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 20 goals and 50 points in a season
The first rookie defenseman to score 20 goals and just the fourth rookie defenseman to ever reach that milestone
The youngest player in league history to score an overtime goal
The youngest blueliner to record a power-play goal, game-winning goal, multi-goal game, and have a point in his NHL debut
The fifth Islanders rookie to play in all 82 games and just the third rookie defenseman in franchise history to do so
Schaefer:
Recorded the most points by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history (59)
Avegared 24:41, the most by an 18-year-old skater in NHL history
Recorded the most overtime points by a teenager (4)
Logged 31:59 TOI on March 24, the most by a teenager since TOI tracking began
Led all rookies in average time on ice, power-play goals (8), and shots on goal (222), while tying for first in goals and overtime goals (2)
Ranked second in goals (23), shots on goal (222), and power play goals (8) amongst all NHL defenseman
Ranked ninth in takeaways (38)
Drew 38 penalties, the most by a rookie defenseman since P.K. Subban (40 in 2010-11)
Set the Islanders' rookie defenseman franchise record for goals, points, power-play goals, overtime goals, and game-winning goals
Scored the sixth most goals by an Islanders defenseman in a season and the most by an Islanders blueliner since Denis Potvin (1981-1982)
Nobody will be shocked to hear that the Colorado Avalanche eliminated the Minnesota Wild last night. However, they will most probably be surprised to hear who scored the overtime goal that sent Jared Bednar’s men through. It was none other than former Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Brett Kulak.
The 32-year-old Edmonton native blueliner has had a good time in the NHL since the Canadiens traded him to the Edmonton Oilers back in the 2021-2022 season. He was signed to a four-year contract extension by his hometown team, and he also made two Stanley Cup finals playing alongside two of the best players in the world, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Earlier this season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Stuart Skinner, as the Oilers sought to address their goaltending woes by acquiring Tristan Jarry. He got to play with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang for 25 games before being sent to Colorado in exchange for Samuel Girard and a second-round pick. He’s now just one round away from another Stanley Cup final.
However, the Kulak trade was a great one for the Canadiens as well. When they flipped him to the Oilers, they received William Lagesson, a seventh-round pick in 2024 and, more importantly, a second-round pick in 2022. Who did the Canadiens land with that second-round pick? None other than Lane Hutson, who has since become a franchise cornerstone for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens’ front office won’t lose any sleep about trading Kulak, second-round winning goal or not, especially since Kent Hughes did manage to ink Hutson to a team-friendly long-term deal earlier this season. The slippery offensive blueliner will be in Montreal for another eight years or until the 2033-34 season for an $8.85 million cap hit per year.
In the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was after Game 4 that Martin St-Louis elected to make some significant changes to his lineup, right after the Bolts had tied up the series. Fast forward two weeks, and the Habs are in the same position, but this time against the Buffalo Sabres. Should we expect the coach to react in the same way? That seems unlikely.
While the series is tied at this stage, the Canadiens have been the better team for most of the four games played, and it doesn’t feel like changes are needed, at least not for the same reason. Against Tampa, the coach called on Brendan Gallagher to provide a much-needed spark, but it’s unlikely that he would turn to the veteran this time around. With all due respect to the winger, he doesn’t have the speed to keep up with the pace of play in this duel.
It’s hard to look at the ice time in the last game as a guide to know who could come out of the lineup. There were so many penalties that many players saw their ice time melt like snow in the sun. Joe Veleno saw less than seven minutes of action, Kirby Dach was on the ice for less than nine minutes, and Zachary Bolduc was on the ice for less than 10. For the latter two, it is certainly not because the coach is unhappy with their play.
It’s not out of the question that we could see Oliver Kapanen at some stage in this series, however. The Finnish center scored two goals in four games against the Sabres in the regular season, and he would have some very fresh legs, since he hasn’t played since Game 4 of the series against the Lightning. There’s a lot more space on the ice against the Sabres than there was against the Bolts.
On the blue line, Arber Xhekaj saw only 3:46 of action across six shifts on Tuesday night, and according to many pundits, the coach may be worried that he could be penalized just because of his reputation. While that’s an interesting theory, the gritty defenseman doesn’t play on either of the special teams, so that’s probably part of the reason why he saw so little action.
The Canadiens didn’t practice on Wednesday before heading to Buffalo, so there were no clues about the lineup that St-Louis is likely to ice on Thursday. Not that he tends to show his hand in advance this day.
Former Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild will not be advancing to the conference finals of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Despite keeping things competitive, the Wild ultimately dropped their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche in five games. After surrendering the first two games to the Avalanche, Minnesota won Game 3 on home-ice, but lost both Games 4 and 5 en route to their elimination.
Hughes finished the post-season with four goals and 11 assists in 11 games played. Seven of these points came against the Avalanche, most of which were the product of a 9–6 Game 1 in which Hughes scored a goal and two assists.
This was Hughes’ first playoff run since the 2023–24 season, during which Vancouver was eliminated in Game 7 of the second round by the Edmonton Oilers. The defenceman’s only other post-season run came during the 2020 Bubble Playoffs, in which Vancouver also lost in Game 7 of the second round.
Minnesota made it past the first-round of the post-season with a six-game series win against the Dallas Stars, with this being the first time they have won a playoff series since 2015. The Wild have yet to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
May 13, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) controls the puck under pressure from Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) in the third period in game five of the second round of the 2026 Stanely Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Despite Vancouver not coming close to making the post-season, Minnesota’s series loss greatly benefits the Canucks. Having acquired the Wild’s first-round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, Vancouver will now end up with a higher pick than if Minnesota were to advance to the next round. In nearly all situations, this means Vancouver will receive the 24th-overall selection. However, if the Anaheim Ducks advance over the Vegas Golden Knights, that selection will turn into the 23rd-overall pick.
With the Wild eliminated, Colorado will move onto the Western Conference Final, facing the winner of the Ducks and Golden Knights’ series. As it stands, Vegas currently has a 3–2 in that series.
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All of us want that elusive fifth Stanley Cup — which for many will be the first in a lifetime — but however the next decade or so goes, it looks like there will be pure joy thanks to Matthew Schaefer.
The latest kid who won the Calder has officially won the Calder, after the league and the Islanders conspired to make the otherwise not-surprising-and-in-fact-unanimous news a surprise on network TV with a presentation during his interview on Good Morning America Wednesday.
More than anything in at least a generation (surely?), the outstanding, talented, grounded and lovable Schaefer is the gift Islanders fans have been waiting for. May he remain glorious and not jaded by traffic.
Not had enough good-story tears for one day? This Willie O’Ree Award candidate runs the Central Park North Stars and brings some light and happiness to kids and adults with disabilities and their oft-overburdened parents and families. [NHL]
And in the playoffs, it was going to be a tall order for the Wild to come back from a 3-1 series deficit, but they were close to accomplishing a big step by grabbing a 3-0 lead in Colorado in Game 5. Alas, they lost, after two late Avalanche goals forced overtime. The Wild are out, and the Hurricanes-Avalanche final is set. (Not really or yet on that last part, but…come on, really.) [NHL]
The Avs made another goalie switch after falling behind 3-0. Scott Wedgewood did not give up a goal. [Sportsnet]
Brayden McNabb gets a one-game suspension for his interference penalty that sidelined Ryan Poehling. [TSN]
Lindy Ruff says the Canadiens are diving. [Sportsnet]
After a quick organizational evaluation that says nothing about Craig Berube’s coaching abilities, they assure you, the Leafs have fired him. His replacement will face some challenges. [NHL] But at least now the Leafs will be able to figure out what they are. [Athletic]
DENVER, CO - MAY 13: Left wing Joel Kiviranta (94) of the Colorado Avalanche reacts to a goal by teammate center Parker Kelly (17) of the Colorado Avalanche during the second period of Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Timothy Hurst/Denver Post via Getty Images
Brett Kulak scored 3:52 into overtime after Nathan MacKinnon tied it late in regulation and the Colorado Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Kulak capped a wild comeback for the Avalanche, who trailed 3-0 midway through the second period. Colorado moves on to the conference final for an eighth time since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.
The Avalanche will face the Vegas-Anaheim winner. Vegas leads that series 3-2.
With Minnesota up 3-1, Jack Drury scored with 3:33 remaining to set the stage for MacKinnon’s goal with 1:23 left with the Colorado goal empty. The star forward sent a shot from the left side past Jesper Wallstedt and into a small space in the top left corner.
In overtime, Martin Necas took the puck, glided behind the net and back out front, where he found an open Kulak. Without missing a stride, he lined it past Wallstedt.
Kulak joined the Avalanche on Feb. 24 as part of a deal that Samuel Girard to Pittsburgh. Kulak was the 16th Avalanche player to score in the series.
“You always like to dream about it,” Kulak said. “The player I am, I’m not the guy (they’re) looking down the bench, hollering, ‘Get out there, go win it for us.’”
It was a rare series-ending win at home for Colorado, too. The last time the Avalanche won a series on home ice was 2008 against the Wild, when the team had Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.
“That was fun,” MacKinnon said. “A lot of fun.”
Marcus Johansson scored 34 seconds into the game and Nick Foligno added two goals to give the Wild a 3-0 after the first period. It led Colorado to take out Mackenzie Blackwood after the first and insert Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.
The Avalanche overcame a three-goal deficit to win a playoff game for just the third time in 53 tries since moving to Denver. The Wild had been 21-0 when leading a playoff game by at least three goals before the elimination loss.
Wallstedt stopped 30 shots for the Wild. Matt Boldy and Nico Sturm each had two assists for a banged-up Wild team that was missing center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin all series.
On Thursday night, it looked like the Minnesota Wild was going to extend their series with the Colorado Avalanche to a sixth game when Nick Foligno's second of the game made it 3-0 in the first period.
The Colorado Avalanche slowly but surely crawled back into the game, however, and Nathan MacKinnon tied it with 1:23 remaining in regulation. In overtime, Brett Kulak scored to send Colorado to the Western Conference Finals.
The Chicago Blackhawks did Nick Foligno a favor when they traded him for "future considerations" on deadline day. He was able to join his brother for a playoff run, but it is over now.
Foligno has been an incredible NHL player over the years. He had a handful of all-star type years, but has mostly been a great role-player and leader. The Chicago Blackhawks and a lot of their players will be impacted by his presence for a long time.
When Foligno first left the Chicago Blackhawks, the coaching staff and players were honest about how much they were going to miss him. They also stressed that they were happy that he got to go be a part of a winning environment.
"He's been awesome for the organization," Jeff Blashill said. "He's an outstanding human being. I'll miss him personally, and we'll miss him as a group."
Now, Foligno is a free agent who will make a decision about his NHL future over the summer. It's hard not to selfishly desire to see him play with his brother in the NHL for an entire season, but he deserves this chance to make his own decision.
The Avalanche is now the last team standing from the Central Division. They will face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks, who have a 2-2 series tie heading into Thursday night's Game 5.
Colorado ended Foligno's season, but it has been clear from the beginning of the season that they were the best team in the division and in the conversation for the best team in the league. Now, they will represent the Central in the final four as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup.
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Well, the stage was set for the Colorado Avalanche to seal the series in front of fans on home ice tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Doing so would mark the first time they’ve achieved that since 2008.
It seems the Wild had other plans as they scored 3o seconds into the game, cashed in on two more first-period tallies.
MacKenzie Blackwood got the start but didn’t make it to the second period, with Scott Wedgewood not allowing a goal once he did enter the game.
It was a tough start, but the Avalanche decided they didn’t want to write the same old story and flipped the script, roaring back in the second and third period and inevitably sealing the series and game in overtime on Brett Kulak’s game-winner!
When I say things couldn’t have started worse for the Avalanche, that’s not being dramatic.
There was a drastic contrast between Colorado’s focus and Minnesota’s, with the Wild seemingly coming to play and the Avalanche struggling to wake up.
36 seconds into the game, Brett Kulak and Brent Burns marked the same player, and Ross Colton got caught watching as Marcus Johansson was left alone in the high slot and beat Blackwood glove side.
Just like that, it was 1-0 Wild, but the disaster wasn’t done unfolding.
Next, it would be Nick Foligno who first tipped one in and on through Blackwood as Brett Kulak was unable to cover a breaking Foligno, and the puck trickled through Blackwood’s five-hole.
It would be Nick Foligno yet again, just about four minutes later, this time on a play where Nico Sturm broke in, cleared a shot that likely should have been iced by Blackwood.
Instead, a rebound popped right back to Sturm, who beat Ahcan to the loose puck, found Foligno, who tucked it in. We would end the first frame 3-0 Minnesota Wild.
The Avalanche would dominate possession and chances in the second frame, showing some life.
The puck was pinned in the corner, but finally squeaked clear of the scrum. Kulak retrieved and sent a cross-ice pass over to Burns, who put it on net. Parker would cash in via the re-direct, bringing the score to 3-1 Wild.
The tide had shifted by the time the third period rolled around, but without another goal until well into the period, this one felt pretty much over.
That is, until Jack Drury scored on the re-direct with 3 and a half minutes left, re-igniting Ball Arena and Colorado’s chances at walking away victorious.
Ball Arena erupted, and we’d head to overtime in game five.
The Wild had a couple of grade-A looks that didn’t materialize, and it was clear that the Wild were gassed early in the extra frame.
Parker Kelly would send a beautiful stretch pass that found Martin Necas cruising into the zone. He wrapped around the net, looked in a dangerous shooting position, but instead passed to Brent Kulak, who had nothing but net in front of him.
He absolutely buried it, and the crowd once again went, dare I say… Wild.
Takeaways
Cale Makar was noticeably hobbled throughout the game, clutching at his right arm and shying away from shots and contact. The Avalanche did well to close out this series tonight so that Makar and others can begin healing in anticipation of the conference final.
Let the story of Brett Kulak inside this game be a lesson to all of us. You might start with some absolute duds, but if you stick to it and do the right things afterward, the puck might find your stick for the game-winner in overtime.
Before the season started, most Avs fans had said cup or bust, but reaching the conference final and getting beyond the second round has been difficult. Another dragon slayed.
One last takeaway: the sort of win that lives on forever if the Avalanche can continue their successful pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
Upcoming
We await the winner of the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights, who are set to play game six tomorrow at 7:30 MT, with Vegas leading the series 3-2.
Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!
After the Rangers unlikely victory tying the 1928 Cup Final with manager Lester Patrick in goal, they still needed a netminder.
The best-of-five series was tied at 1-1 and it was a tossup whether the Rangers could survive.
Patrick's ultimate goalie choice was as unlikely as Lester playing goal – and winning – to tie the series. I kid you not; the man he finally selected to save the New Yorkers happened to be one of Canada's all-time great FOOTBALL players.
The Grey Cup was Canada's version of what American's Super Bowl is now and Lester's choice, Joe Miller, was a two-time Grey Cup-winner. The only trouble here was that the Stanley Cup was played on ice not on the gridiron.
"That didn't bother me," said Patrick, "Miller was a great athlete and I had seen him play goal for the New York Americans. Hey, we had no choice; we had to gamble and we gambled on Joe Miller."
It wasn't that Miller was a complete unknown. In addition to starring at football, Joe had been a minor league hockey goalie for several years. But, then again, this wasn't the minors; these were the games that would decide the Stanley Cup.
Patrick: "Since my Rangers shared Madison Square Garden ice with the Amerks, I had seen enough of Joe Miller. Even though his record wasn't impressive, I figured he just might come up big in the final games."
Other Rangers endorsed the move and Frank Boucher was one of them. "Joe was playing for a bad Americans team and that's why his numbers were not that good."
The NHL records revealed that Miller played 28 NHL games for the Americans and finished with a 8-16-4 record and a decent 2.68 goals against average. However, that was not the playoffs.
With the series knotted at one win apiece, Miller lost Game Three 2-0, but with The Cup within the Maroons' grasp, Joltin' Joe blanked Montreal, 2-0, and what had become a monumental playoff now was tied with the finale coming up at Montreal's Forum.
As it happened, on the night of April 14, 1928, Joseph Anthony Miller of Morrisburg, Ontario – Ottawa football ace – would record his finest hour as a hockey goalkeeper.
Vegas Golden Knights veteran forward Tomas Hertl knows what's expected of him as part of a potent offense.
Which is why he's more than relieved to not only have snapped a 29-game drought, but also a 16-game playoff drought that dated back to last season.
Hertl, who hadn't scored a goal since March 4 in a 4-3 overtime win in Detroit, hadn't scored a playoff goal since April 26, 2025 in a 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota.
Now, he's scored in back-to-back games, in Games 3 and 4 of the Knights' current series with the Anaheim Ducks.
"Obviously, it wasn't easy for me, you know," Hertl said. "The expectation for me is to make something happen on the ice. It was nice for me to score the last game, and especially tonight.
"I was very happy about it, because it was a pretty hard two months for me, because everybody expected I would score goals and make something happen. I obviously try to do other things, but it's always nice to get a couple. Hopefully, moving forward, I can help with a couple more goals.”
Vegas coach John Tortorella praised Hertl's line, with wings Brandon Saad and Colton Sissons flanking him.
"I know they were on the ice for the tying goal, but I thought they gave us some big minutes, and we're gonna need it," Tortorella said. "As the series keeps on going, we're gonna need all four lines."
Hertl, who acknowledged being benched at times and seeing limited playing time was difficult to absorb, said he tried not to think about his scoring drought the past two months but found it difficult.
Recent conversations with a supportive Tortorella, though, have helped ease him back into a comfort zone.
"We definitely had some talks about it, and he tried to help me around," Hertl said. "But it's always just nice to score the first one. Every game, when I was going through it, I just tried not to think about a goal because, especially in the playoffs, all that matters is winning the games. It doesn't matter who scores.
"Hopefully this is behind me and this stretch never happens, honestly, again, because it was way too long."
PHOTO CAPTION
Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period of game five of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena.
Game 5 is about to begin live from Ball Arena as the Colorado Avalanche look to clinch a spot in the Western Conference Finals with a win over the Minnesota Wild.
Let's get ready for a great game!
First Period
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.
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.
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.
Second Period
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.
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.
Third Period
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 Golden Knights head to Anaheim with a 3-2 series lead over the Ducks, and a chance to wrap up their conference semifinal on Thursday, but will do so without one of their top defenders.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb has been suspended for one game for interference against Ducks forward Ryan Poehling during Tuesday's Game 5, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.
The incident occurred at 8:55 of the first period, when McNabb was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for interference.
The Knights played the rest of the game without McNabb. After allowing the Ducks to tie the game at 2-all in the third period, Vegas won 3-2 in overtime.
"It’s just no sense talking about it ... I just don’t get it, coach John Tortorella said after the game. "High marks for the whole team tonight. I’m proud of the team tonight. Getting down, losing Nabber, one of our top D, losing him - I think he played three minutes - and still finding a way to get things done, to get a win, I’m really proud of the hockey club."
