After steamrolling through 6 straight playoff wins to open the postseason, the Avalanche finally hit a wall on Saturday night. The Wild ran them out of Grand Casino Arena 5-1, halved the series deficit, and reminded everyone that the 9-6 and 5-2 scorelines in Denver weren't the whole story. Now it's a series.
Scott Wedgewood is the headline going in. He got yanked in Game 3 after surrendering 3 goals on 12 shots and giving way to Mackenzie Blackwood. Whoever Colorado runs out has to be sharper than that, because Jesper Wallstedt was a brick wall on the other end with 35 saves and Kirill Kaprizov is suddenly cooking — a goal and 2 assists in Game 3, with Brock Faber matching his stat line from the back end.
Health is the other swing factor. Joel Eriksson Ek has missed the entire series with a lower-body issue and is reportedly pushing to return for Game 4 — adding a true 200-foot center to a Wild group that already just hung 5 on the favorites would be a real problem for Colorado. The Avs have their own day-to-day concern on the blue line with Josh Manson, and Minnesota is also sweating Jonas Brodin's status.
- Day-To-DayJosh Manson D — day-to-day
- Day-To-DayJonas Brodin D — day-to-day
- Day-To-DayJoel Eriksson Ek C — day-to-day
- OutCharlie Stramel C — Stramel signed a three-year, entry-level contract extension with the Wild on Monday.
Pinnacle still has the Avs as comfortable favorites at -132 on the moneyline, with the puck-line price on Colorado at +195 sitting where you'd expect for a road favorite that just got embarrassed. The total opens at 6.5 with the under shaded to -115, which feels honest after a series that has already produced a 15-goal game and a 6-goal game.
The read here is simple. If Colorado gets even average goaltending and Nathan MacKinnon's line goes back to dictating shifts, they take this series back to Denver up 3-1. If Wallstedt does it again and Kaprizov keeps tilting the ice, we've got a full-fledged series with home ice now a real question mark.