The Minnesota Wild welcomed the Colorado Avalanche to Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, MN, for game four of the second round.
A good news, bad news sort of situation emerged at puck drop, as surprisingly both Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen would not play.
We also saw the insertion of Jack Ahcan, Josh Manson, and Joel Kiviranta.
This Stanley Cup playoff series was stuck at 2-1 in favor of the Avalanche heading into the night, and a tightly contested showdown would, in the end, result in Parker Kelly’s first career playoff goal and the Avalanche leaving St. Paul with a victory.
Nathan MacKinnon was bloodied from an arrant clearing attempt but showed his toughness and returned to put home the empty netter that put this one out of reach.
“That’s exactly what we were looking for… we were looking for a response,” Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog said postgame.
Let’s review all of the action from game four!
The Game
It didn’t take long for the blood between these two rivals to boil over as Josh Manson took a check from Michael McCarron, who dragged Manson down to the ice.
In the fall and ensuing scuffle, it appeared Josh Manson hit McCarron in the head with the butt of the stick, inciting a review.
The review set up a potential five-minute game misconduct for Josh Manson, but after the review, Manson was assessed a double minor.
The Wild would make the most of the second half of that double-minor as Brock Faber’s point shot was redirected by Danila Yurov, who was parked near the crease.
The Wild would secure the always impactful first tally of the game and take the 1-0 lead at 9:46, and that’s how the first period would end.
The second frame started with a bit of jostling from both sides, and inevitably, the Avalanche would earn a couple of power-play chances of their own.
Nazem Kadri would tie the game at 1-1 six minutes into the period, and on the latter of the power plays I previously mentioned.
Kadri did well to find some open space as the puck left the wall and fired the puck on net. The shot gave Jesper Wallstedt some trouble, and he left the rebound for Kadri to give it another go.
He made no mistake, and we’d end the middle frame in a tie hockey game.
Just before the second period let out, Nathan MacKinnon wore a clearing attempt from Devon Toews that hit him square in the chops. MacKinnon was bloodied and went right to the tunnel.
The question then became, would he return? The Dogg would indeed come out for the third, not even wearing a fishbowl, to my surprise.
Ross Colton was a scratch for the first two games of Colorado’s first-round series, but we knew he’d need to play if a cup run were to materialize.
Well, he made his mark tonight with a timely 3rd period tally to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead.
Nicolas Roy was patient with the puck and in the slot. He made a beautiful pass to Ross Colton, who had a lot of net to find.
The Wild would answer quickly and ironically as Nico Sturm hit the same celly we saw from Ross Colton after Quinn Hughes found him alone at a dangerous angle.
We would once again be tied this time at 2-2 with 11:45 left in the game.
Speaking of timely goals, Parker Kelly would score the biggest and first playoff goal of his life to put the Avalanche ahead 3-2 eleven minutes into the final frame.
Parker was alone high in the slot and ripped home a one-timed bomb that beat Wallstedt high and over the shoulders—no luck involved.
Nathan MacKinnon, still dripping blood from his nose, would tally the empty netter on a patient play from Martin Necas and put this one out of reach with just over 30 seconds left.
Brock Nelson lofted an insurance empty netter, and the Avs would win with a final score of 5-2.
Takeaways
Many fans and pundits called into question MacKenzie Blackwood getting the nod in game four, but he only allowed two tallies, with just one of those coming at 5-on-5.
What many viewed as ‘a panic move’ from Bednar played out more like the display of another strong option between the pipes.
It goes without saying that being hit in the face with a puck hurts really badly, and for Nathan MacKinnon to come out, no bubble, and do what he did tonight is truly remarkable. A testament to that championship resolve I pointed to yesterday.
Colorado got the depth goals they have been pining for with Nicolas Roy assisting Ross Colton and Parker Kelly’s game-winner. A sprinkling of top-six production from Kadri, Nelson, Necas, and MacKinnon, and the Avalanche can produce throughout the lineup; they are a tough team to beat.
Josh Manson is fortunate the refs couldn’t substantiate actual contact from the buttend of his stick, or he’d have gotten a game, and this one likely would have gone down a lot differently. Marcus Foligno pulled him aside as the final horn sounded and had passionate words.
We also got a little spice during ESPN’s intermission report from McCarron.
Jared Bednar gave no update on Sam Malinski or Artturi Lehkonen in the post-game presser.
Kudos to Jack Ahcan, who wasn’t all that bad in his first NHL playoff game. Pretty cool accomplishment for the young man.
The pressure shifts back to Minnesota, who will have to win elimination games the rest of the series to advance to the Western Conference Final.
Upcoming
We head back to Denver and the fans at Ball Arena for game five on Wednesday evening!
Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!
