Avalanche and Wild play absolutely bonkers Game 1, Colorado prevails 9-6

The Colorado Avalanche gave up only five goals in their first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings.

They gave up six to the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of Round 2 on Sunday night.

And it didn’t matter.

The Avalanche offense was on point like fans haven’t seen in more than a month, scoring nine goals and earning a highly entertaining 9-6 victory. 14 different players scored meaning the stat sheet was stuffed for each team.

The contest was a wild back-and-forth affair in which defense seemed optional most of the evening, but ultimately Colorado had more firepower than Minnesota.

And in the third period the Avalanche simply took over. With the score tied 5-5 entering the final frame Cale Makar scored twice and Nazem Kadri found the back of the net as well, sending Ball Arena into a tizzy. Makar made it 6-5, a laser off a great pass from Nathan MacKinnon.

A little more than two minutes later it was Kadri on a breakaway, putting Colorado up by two and adding another huge moment in a night full of them.

NAZEM KADRI!! 🙌 #StanleyCup

There have been TWELVE different goalscorers in this game!

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/88vwM0FalM

— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2026

Makar scored again to make it 8-6 after it was nervous time with about four minutes to go as the Wild’s Mats Zuccarello cut it to 7-6. MacKinnon would add an empty-netter to ice things, giving Colorado its final three-goal margin.

After a 3-2 first period in favor of the Avalanche, the score was flipped in the second with Minnesota having a 3-2 edge. That led to the 5-5 tie after a bonkers first 40 minutes.

The Avs got on the board early in the second, a slick pass from a Valeri Nichushkin to a streaking Nick Blankenburg near the back-post. Blankenburg scored his first career playoff goal and launched himself into the boards to celebrate.

But the Wild would get the next three goals including one from Olympic star Quinn Hughes to tie things 4-4 after Minnesota’s Vladimir Tarasenko had a filthy finish to make it 4-3. 

Then with the Avalanche on the power play they committed a horrendous turnover, leading to a Marcus Foligno breakaway and shorthanded goal. Fortunately, Colorado responded moments later with a Devon Toews tally to knot things up 5-5 with plenty of traffic in front of the Wild net. 

AND NOW WE'RE TIED AGAIN?! 😵‍💫 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/v35TSYv4xq

— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2026

The first period was also absolutely nuts, featuring the aforementioned five goals and a big injury scare. Colorado got the first three tallies of the game only 2:01 apart.

Sam Malinski made it 1-0 with a beautiful snipe from near the face-off circle. Only 52 seconds later, Jack Drury beat Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt to double the advantage to 2-0.

And then with the Avalanche on the power player after a scrap between Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog and Wild defenseman Brock Faber, MacKinnon did MacKinnon things.

He split the defense, was stopped by Wallstedt but stuck with the play. MacKinnon found Artturi Lehkonen who had only a defender between him and an open net and didn’t miss. The unreal effort by MacKinnon helped make it 3-0 Avs and the arena was on fire.

MACK TO LEHKY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/rIDoGaSNXr

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 4, 2026

But also in the opening frame Makar missed about 15 minutes. He went down the tunnel after an awkward hit by Foligno. Makar’s leg went above his head and his absence was obviously noticeable.

Luckily, Makar returned to the bench late in the first period, missing all five goals while he was getting looked at. The score went from 0-0 to 3-2 in the time he was back in the locker room / training room.

Minnesota’s tallies came from Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman only 1:02 apart to slice the advantage to one goal. The second one was set up by a great play Hughes, who made his impact felt early and often.

And while fans might be nervous about Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood, none of the six goals by Minnesota were weak. He was nails against the Kings and even though the stats might not back it up in Game 1, Wedgewood actually wasn’t a problem. It was more Avs defensive lapses.

Regardless, it’s going to be hard to top that roller coaster in Game 2, but the two teams will try on Tuesday night with a 6:00 p.m. puck drop in Denver.

For now, the Avalanche have struck first, even if there’s plenty to clean up on the defensive side of things. A 1-0 series lead is critical and Colorado has that.

Strap in, this will be nothing like the “boring” first-round series. It looks like plenty of fireworks are still to come between the two best teams remaining in the Western Conference.

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