{"id":762,"date":"2026-05-12T22:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=762"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:35:38","slug":"wild-make-it-a-series-against-the-avalanche-who-have-a-game-4-goalie-decision-to-make-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=762","title":{"rendered":"Wild make it a series against the Avalanche, who have a Game 4 goalie decision to make"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>During an unusually long break in the second round after Colorado took a 2-0 series lead on Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov could not help but to think about hockey.<\/p>\n<p>What was on his mind?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow you want to beat these guys next game,\u201d Kaprizov said.<\/p>\n<p>Kaprizov and the Wild did exactly that, cutting their deficit to 2-1 by jumping out to a two-goal lead and defeating the Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday night. It was much closer to how Minnesota has looked in recent weeks and months.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re right back in it,\u201d said goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who made 35 saves in his return to the net. \u201cWe proved to everyone and ourself that, when we play the right way, when we play the game style we want to play, we\u2019re just as good as anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now it is up to Colorado to bounce back after the NHL\u2019s best team in the regular season lost for the first time this playoffs following a first-round sweep of Los Angeles and a 7-0 start. Game 4 is Monday night in St. Paul (8 p.m. EDT, ESPN).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re looking at the two teams, very evenly matched, and you knew you were going to be in for a series: You knew this was going to be the toughest one yet that we\u2019ve played in the playoffs because of the team we\u2019re playing, the venue, having a 2-0 series lead,\u201d Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cNow we\u2019re in a 2-1 series and it\u2019s going to be up to us to respond the next game. It\u2019s really that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bednar and his staff have an important call to make on who is in goal after Scott Wedgewood was pulled in favor of Mackenzie Blackwood after giving up three goals on 12 shots to begin Game 3. Wedgewood played the entire first round against Dallas after he started 43 and Blackwood 36 games during the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>Blackwood allowed one goal on 13 shots in relief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Blackwood was good,\u201d Bednar said afterward. \u201cIt was a little bit of a tough break, a bad-angle shot. It hits him. He does his job, saves it and it goes back off (Brock) Faber\u2019s pads. It\u2019s the only one he gave up. He made some big saves in there, gave us a good chance. So, yeah, we\u2019ll talk about it and make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bednar told reporters Sunday there was a lot of talk about how to structure the forward lines in Game 4 after not getting what he wanted from them in his team\u2019s first loss since April 11. Bednar also called injured defenseman Josh Manson close to coming back after missing the past four games, with winger Joel Kiviranta also a possibility to play.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota has not had Joel Eriksson Ek yet this series, though the key center is skating and appears to be nearing a return. Without him, the Wild were outscored 14-8 in the first two games at Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Kaprizov, Faber and Quinn Hughes all scoring on Saturday night kept them from getting pushed to the brink of elimination. In addition to a goal apiece, the trio combined for five assists in Game 3.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s nice when you have high-end players like that that have played in high-stakes environments and they play their best when the stakes are the highest,\u201d coach John Hynes said. \u201cThey\u2019re all extremely smart. They\u2019re very hard-working. They take pride in their game and in the team\u2019s game, but when the moments get hot, all those guys prove time and time again that they can bring their best in those environments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=756\">Appeals court spares President Trump from paying $83 million defamation award, for now<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=758\">The Iran war is hitting home as gasoline prices fuel inflation surge of 3.8% in the US<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=760\">Colorado\u2019s hidden human trafficking problem: It\u2019s closer than you think<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During an unusually long break in the second round after Colorado took a 2-0 series lead on Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov could not help but to think about hockey. What was on his mind? \u201cHow you want to beat these guys next game,\u201d Kaprizov said. Kaprizov and the Wild did exactly that, cutting their deficit to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[661,662,135,367,242,96,663,243],"tags":[361,363,664,665,666,667],"class_list":["post-762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1gridsports","category-avalanche","category-no-apple-publish","category-pro","category-recent-headlines","category-sports","category-z-sports-ts","category-trending","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-jared-bednar","tag-jesper-wallstedt","tag-john-hynes","tag-kirill-kaprizov","tag-mackenzie-blackwood"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wild make it a series against the Avalanche, who have a Game 4 goalie decision to make - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=762\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wild make it a series against the Avalanche, who have a Game 4 goalie decision to make - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During an unusually long break in the second round after Colorado took a 2-0 series lead on Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov could not help but to think about hockey. 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