Avalanche use big third period to take commanding 3-1 series lead over Wild

The Colorado Avalanche scored four third period goals on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Minnesota Wild.

Ross Colton, Parker Kelly, Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson all found the back of the net in the final 20 minutes in a 5-2 Avs victory. A pivotal Game 4 went to Colorado in the second-round showdown.

But this one was closer than the final score indicated, tied 1-1 going to third and 2-2 with 10:45 go.

It was depth scoring from Colorado that really helped get it done. First, Colton made it 2-1 off a great pass from Nicolas Roy. After Nico Sturm knotted the game up 2-2 for the Wild, Kelly had the answer.

Following a great regular season, Kelly scored his first goal of the playoffs on a snipe. It turned out to be the game-winner.

PARKER KELLY WITH THE GO-AHEAD GOAL!!! 🚨 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @espn
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/6nUaiBRG4r

— NHL (@NHL) May 12, 2026

Both MacKinnon and Nelson would add empty-net tallies to seal the victory. MacKinnon did it with a bit of a bloody face after taking a puck to the head late in the second period.

Mackenzie Blackwood made some monster stops, particularly in the third period when Minnesota looked desperate. He finished with 19 saves in his first postseason start, earning the trust of head coach Jared Bednar who made a somewhat surprising switch from Scott Wedgewood to Blackwood.

The second period saw the Avalanche really take over the game, although not as much on the scoreboard as fans would’ve liked.

Nazem Kadri did get Colorado on the board, just six seconds into a power play. He stuck with a sequence and got his own rebound to eventually beat Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt. It evened the contest at one.

Nothing like scoring your 50th playoff point and having your parents in attendance!

Nazem Kadri makes it a tie game!

📺: @espn, @Sportsnet, & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/dASa3mAR5r

— NHL (@NHL) May 12, 2026

Wallstedt was great the rest of the frame to keep things tied — at one point shots were 20-4 Avalanche. They were dominating before some bad penalties started to tilt the ice back toward Minnesota.

Luckily, none of them hurt Colorado, with some more key saves by Blackwood. It was a 1-1 nail-biter heading to the final 20 minutes.

In the first period the Avalanche actually came out fast, unlike the slog we saw in Game 3.

But the momentum swung about seven minutes in when Colorado defenseman Josh Manson was called for “butt-ending;” he drove the back of his stick near the face of Wild center Michael McCarron.

The refs initially assessed a major penalty on Manson so that they could review it and then settled on a four-minute power play for Minnesota. During the first intermission interview with ESPN, McCarron called Manson a “dirty player,” adding even more spice to this matchup.

The Avalanche were able to kill off the first half of the penalty, but not all of it. Wild forward Danila Yurov had a beautiful tip off a shot from Brock Faber, a play Blackwood never stood a chance on. That made it 1-0 Minnesota and was where things stood at the first intermission, but Colorado was the better team the final 40 minutes.

Now, Game 5 will be on Wednesday night back at Ball Arena in Denver and the Avalanche can close the Wild out.

They say the last win of a series is the toughest and you can bet Colorado doesn’t want to fly back to Minnesota for Game 6.

However, it’s mission accomplished for this stretch. The Avalanche protected home ice then split on the road, a formula to win in the postseason.

One more victory will send them back to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2022. That was also the last time they hoisted the Stanley Cup and had a championship parade.

Related

Cale Makar voted NHL’s best defenseman a fifth year in a rowAvalanche name new head coach for AHL affiliate EaglesFive most important Avalanche games during the 2026-27 seasonNHL drops schedule for 2026-27 Avalanche seasonFirst Avalanche game of 2026-27 season announced, it’s in SeptemberAvs make three more depth signings, including forward with 477 NHL games