The Avalanche have looked like the better team for most of this series, and Game 4's 5-2 win in Saint Paul cemented it. Colorado is 7-1 in these playoffs. Now they get a chance to close it out at home, where they haven't actually clinched a series in nearly 20 years.
Minnesota's margin for error is gone, and the injury report makes it worse. Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek are both day-to-day, which is a brutal pair to be without — Brodin is the defensive backbone and Ek is the matchup center you actually want on the ice against Nathan MacKinnon. Colorado has its own concerns with Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski tagged day-to-day, but the Avs are the ones with the cushion.
- 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.
- Day-To-DayArtturi Lehkonen LW — Lehkonen (upper body) is dealing with a day-to-day injury, according to Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette on Tuesday.
- Day-To-DaySam Malinski D — Malinski (upper body) was deemed day-to-day ahead of Game 5 against the Wild on Wednesday, Jesse Granger of The Athletic reports.
Mackenzie Blackwood got the Game 4 nod and stopped 19 of 21 in his first postseason start, and Jared Bednar hasn't tipped his hand on whether Blackwood or Scott Wedgewood gets the crease tonight. On the other end, MacKinnon took a puck to the face late in Game 4 and stayed on to bury the empty-netter, which tells you everything about where his head is at right now.
Matt Boldy basically said the quiet part out loud after Game 4: "I don't think we played fully to our identity, and I think everyone in this room knows that." The Wild have rallied from 3-1 down against Colorado before — Game 7 OT in 2003 and 2014 — but this version of the Avs is rolling and at home.
Pinnacle has Colorado at -216 on the moneyline and -1.5 on the puck line, with a total of 6.5. That's a sensible price on a team that's been the better side at 5-on-5 all series. If the Wild are going to extend this thing, they need Kirill Kaprizov to drag the top line back into the fight and somebody — anybody — to win them a save battle. Otherwise, the Avs punch their ticket to the conference final tonight.