Wild Beat Avalanche 5-1 to Cut Series Lead to 2-1 — National Hockey League
Minnesota beat Colorado 5-1 in national hockey league Game 3 on Saturday, turning the Western Conference Second Round into a 2-1 series before Monday’s Game 4 at Grand Casino Arena. The Wild did it behind 35 saves from Jesper Wallstedt and ended the Avalanche’s six-game winning streak to open the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Wallstedt steadies Minnesota
Wallstedt answered after allowing eight goals on 42 shots in Game 1. He was sharper in Game 3, and Minnesota needed that response to get back in the series against a Colorado team that had not lost since April 11 before Saturday.
Colorado started Scott Wedgewood in the first seven games, but Mackenzie Blackwood was the first Avalanche goalie off the ice at the morning skate and is an indication he will make his first start of the playoffs. Blackwood stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief of Wedgewood in Game 3, while Wedgewood was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots.
Bednar pushes Colorado level
Jared Bednar did not hide the standard after the loss. “I think after (Saturday) night, it's crank-up mode,” he said before Game 4. He also said, “They cranked it up and went to a different level for Game 3 in somewhat of a must win. And that's where the level is going to go to now for the rest of the series, and we've got to get there. So, to me, it's dial-it-up time.”
Colorado still has a chance to reset the goaltending picture quickly, and that becomes the next pressure point in the series. Bednar said, “We're getting good reports. Like I said at the start of the playoffs, we're probably going to need both guys. It's how we ran all year. We have confidence in both guys, and I think Mackenzie is ready to play. He wants the net.”
Wild injuries and return options
Minnesota will again be without Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin. Eriksson Ek will miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury, and Brodin will miss his fifth straight game for the same reason. Even with those absences, the Wild got the result they needed to put Colorado back on its heels.
John Hynes has already watched Wallstedt work through a rough start and answer with a stronger game. “When he and I sat down and talked about what we were thinking and the decision we were going to make (in Game 2), his feedback and input to me was very mature,” he said. “Then the way he went about and handled it -- he took a little bit of rest and recovery, he worked, practiced, came back and had a good game. He continually shows improvement like that.”
Colorado can also get help back. Josh Manson and Joel Kiviranta are available and could return, with Manson having missed four games with an upper-body injury and Kiviranta out for the past five games with an upper-body injury. If Colorado takes the next game, the series math tightens fast: teams that grab a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series have won 90 percent of the time, and that figure rises to 92 percent when the 3-1 lead is built on the road.
