Wild make it a series against the Avalanche, who have a Game 4 goalie decision to make

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?

“How you want to beat these guys next game," Kaprizov said.

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.

“We’re right back in it,” said goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who made 35 saves in his return to the net. “We proved to everyone and ourself that, when we play the right way, when we play the game style we want to play, we’re just as good as anyone else.”

Now it is up to Colorado to bounce back after the NHL's 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).

“You’re 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’ve played in the playoffs because of the team we’re playing, the venue, having a 2-0 series lead,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “Now we’re in a 2-1 series and it’s going to be up to us to respond the next game. It’s really that simple."

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.

Blackwood allowed one goal on 13 shots in relief.

“I thought Blackwood was good," Bednar said afterward. "It 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’s pads. It’s the only one he gave up. He made some big saves in there, gave us a good chance. So, yeah, we’ll talk about it and make a decision.”

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's 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.

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.

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.

“It’s 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,” coach John Hynes said. “They’re all extremely smart. They’re very hard-working. They take pride in their game and in the team’s game, but when the moments get hot, all those guys prove time and time again that they can bring their best in those environments.”

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) waits for play to resume during the third period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews (7) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) defend the goal while pressured by Minnesota Wild center Nico Sturm (78) during the third period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) skates with the puck as Colorado Avalanche right wing Logan O'Connor (25) defends during the first period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the first period of Game 3 of an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, May 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Union Berlin's Marie-Louise Eta became the first female head coach to win a game in European soccer’s top five men’s leagues as she oversaw a 3-1 victory against Mainz in the German Bundesliga on Sunday.

Eta punched the air and joined her players to applaud Union's fans as she celebrated her first win in the fourth game of her five-game tenure as interim coach.

“You're happy, you want to win games. That's always the case and so it was today as well,” she told broadcaster DAZN when asked if it was a release of pressure. “The way it happened was great too, how we managed to pull it off.”

Late goals from Oliver Burke in the 88th minute and Josip Juranovic in stoppage time turned a draw into a win to move Union up to 12th in the Bundesliga table. Earlier, Mainz's Sheraldo Becker had scored to cancel out Andrej Ilic's opener for Union.

It was the first win for Union since March. Eta took over when the club fired Steffen Baumgart last month. She had one draw and two losses before Sunday's win.

While Eta, an experienced youth and assistant coach, has previously acknowledged there's a “social impact” to her historic head coach role, she's keen to stress that results come first.

“It hasn't been about that,” she told DAZN on Sunday when asked how she'd like people to view her time in charge. “It's been about doing the job as well as possible, getting points, winning games, and that's what we've worked for each day. We've invested a lot so it's great that we could get the three points here today, show a good performance, I think, and that's important for me, too.”

Eta’s time as head coach of the Union men's team is due to end next week when Union hosts Augsburg in its last game of the season. She has already agreed to take charge of the Union women’s team for next season.

The game was interrupted for several minutes in the first half as Union fans threw tennis balls onto the field in a protest against league scheduling.

Mainz, led by former Union coach Urs Fischer, is 10th.

Two goals from Igor Matanovic were not enough to stop Europa League finalist Freiburg losing 3-2 at Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Bakery Jatta opened the scoring for Hamburg when he was left unmarked but Matanovic soon leveled for Freiburg. Goals from Luka Vušković and Fabio Baldé put Hamburg back in control in the second half and Matanović's 87th-minute header proved only a consolation goal for Freiburg.

The loss is a blow to seventh-place Freiburg's hopes of qualifying for the Conference League via the Bundesliga. Freiburg could yet end up in the Champions League with a win over Aston Villa in the final of the Europa League on May 20. Hamburg moves up a place to 11th.

The Bundesliga is set for a final-day relegation battle next week with three teams on the same number of points seeking one shot at survival.

Heidenheim beat Cologne 3-1 on Sunday to move up to 17th, level on points with Wolfsburg in 16th and St. Pauli in 18th. Midfielder Jan Schöppner scored twice to end a six-month goal drought in the Bundesliga.

The teams in 17th and 18th are relegated automatically and the team in 16th faces a two-leg promotion-relegation playoff against a team from the second division. Wolfsburg and St. Pauli play each other next week, and Heidenheim hosts Mainz.

Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt has been in charge for 19 years, overseeing promotion from the regional fourth tier and even a European campaign in the Conference League last season. He has yet to experience relegation.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Andrej Ilic, 2nd left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the Bundesliga soccer match between FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Union Berlin in Mainz, Germany, Sunday May 10, 2026. (Torsten Silz/dpa via AP)

Union Berlin's coach Marie-Louise Eta smiles before the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FSV Mainz 05 and 1. FC Union Berlin in Mainz, Germany, Saunday, May 10, 2026. (Torsten Silz/dpa via AP)

Heidenheim's gJan Schöppner celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Köln and 1. FC Heidenheim, in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Ulrich Hufnagel/dpa via AP)

Hamburger's Luka Vuskovic, centre, celebrates with Nicolai Remberg, second from left, and Nicolas Capaldo after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hamburger SV and Sport-Club Freiburg in Hamburg, Germany, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)