Avalanche bounce back to beat the Wild 5-2 and take a 3-1 lead in the series

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ross Colton and Parker Kelly each scored in the third period for Colorado, an opportune time for their first goals of the postseason as the high-scoring Avalanche snapped back from a midseries lull and beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the second round of the NHL playoffs.

“It’s just about staying ready,” Kelly said, “and all these guys in here are ready.”

Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves in his first start this postseason after relieving Scott Wedgewood during a 5-1 loss in Game 3 on Saturday, and the Avalanche moved within one win of taking the first spot in the Western Conference finals. Game 5 will be in Denver on Wednesday.

“You’re never going to be perfect after 30 days off, so I just try to do my best to stay sharp,” said Blackwood, who learned the day before he would be starting.

Nazem Kadri scored on a power play in the second period, and Nathan MacKinnon — who had a brief absence to fix a bloody nose from a puck to the face — and Brock Nelson added empty-net goals in the final minute.

Nico Sturm tied the game at 2 for Minnesota with his first goal of the postseason about two minutes after Colton scored, but the Wild were outshot 20-4 over roughly the first half of the game by an energized Colorado offense.

Rookie Danila Yurov scored his first career postseason goal on a deflection midway through the first period for the Wild during a four-minute power play prompted by a double minor penalty on defenseman Josh Manson, but they failed to consistently get pucks deep into the offensive zone and allowed their crowd-noise advantage to all but disappear during their slog of a second period before coming to life down the stretch.

“The style of game that we needed to play to win the game, we didn’t,” coach John Hynes said. "We made the conscious choice not to play that way tonight, so we’ll readdress that and then we’ll get ready for Game 5.”

After leading the NHL in goals during the regular season while posting the league's best record, the Avalanche scored 14 times over the first two games before Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt stonewalled them in Game 3.

But Colton, whose wrist shot was set up by a slick across-the-slot pass by linemate Nicolas Roy, became the 15th player to score for the Avalanche in just eight postseason games this spring. Then Kelly made it 16.

“They were doing a lot of what we want to do — quick with the puck, get it down deep, work our players down low," Wallstedt said. “They got a lot of pucks to the net. They were creating rebounds. They were creating scoring chances. We want to do the exact same thing. It just took a little longer for us to get there.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates after a goal by Wild right wing Danila Yurov (not shown) during the first period of Game 4 in a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt waits for play to resume after a goal by Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri during the second period of Game 4 in an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri (91) celebrates with defenseman Cale Makar (8) after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 4 in an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Colorado Avalanche center Parker Kelly, center, celebrates after scoring during the third period of Game 4 in an NHL Stanley Cup hockey second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild, Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson returned from a five-game absence with a costly mistake.

The 12th-year veteran was playing for the first time in the second-round NHL playoff series against Minnesota after recovering from an upper-body injury. He took a double minor penalty for hitting Wild center Michael McCarron with the blunt end of his stick during a scrum midway through the first period.

Danila Yurov scored during the four-minute power play to put the Wild on the board first in Game 4 on Monday, with Manson watching from the box. The Avalanche recovered to win 5-2 for a 3-1 lead in the series.

“A little undisciplined there, but it didn’t look to me like it was vicious enough to make it a five-minute major,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I was just kind of hoping for the best and Manse would be able to stay in the game. I think they probably made the right call.”

The first-period tussle with Manson was still on McCarron's mind afterward.

“He’s a dirty player. He’s always been,” McCarron said. “Not very well-respected.”

Manson was checked hard into the boards by McCarron, losing his balance and pulling McCarron down to the ice with him. As Manson tried to get loose from McCarron’s bear hug, he sent a slight jab of his stick at the side of McCarron’s face that caused him to recoil in apparent pain.

Manson threw his hands up in disbelief after the review for a major penalty was announced, and after a longer-than-usual evaluation the call came for the double minor that went in the books for “butt-ending.”

“I blew him up, and he grabbed me and pulls me on top of him,” McCarron said. “He took his butt end and clearly butt-ended me in the face. I don’t know how it’s not a five-minute. I think the rulebook says it’s a five-minute if you butt-end someone in the face.”

Manson was mostly upset that McCarron landed on him after the hit, but he said he didn't purposely try to injure him and lost awareness of where his grip on the stick was during the scrum.

“My intention wasn't to butt-end him. Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head,” Manson said.

The Avalanche made their first significant lineup changes of the playoffs before Game 4, putting Manson and postseason rookie Jack Ahcan on the blue line for Nick Blankenburg and Sam Malinski, who was scratched for the first time this postseason because of an upper-body injury. Manson was hurt in Game 3 of Colorado's first-round sweep of Los Angeles.

Manson posted a career-best plus-42 rating during the regular season, and he had a career-high 91 penalty minutes.

Bednar also gave goalie Mackenzie Blackwood his first start in nearly a month after he relieved Scott Wedgewood during the 5-1 loss in Game 3 to the Wild.

First line left wing Artturi Lehkonen also had his first absence due to an upper-body injury, so captain Gabriel Landeskog moved up to skate with star center Nathan MacKinnon.

Wedgewood and Blackwood shared the William M. Jennings Trophy as the Avalanche had the NHL's best goals against average during the regular season. Wedgewood was 6-0 in the playoffs before giving up three goals in Game 3 to prompt the pull from Bednar early in the second period on Saturday.

Blackwood, who played the entire first-round series last year against Dallas, made 19 saves in Game 4 after stopping 12 of 13 shots in Game 3.

“He went in the net and did exactly what I was hoping he would do,” Bednar said. “He’s had some really strong practices in the last week. He’s had some time to prepare. He’s in tune with what’s going on in the series and done his homework.”

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood waits for play to resume after a goal by Minnesota Wild right wing Danila Yurov during the first period of Game 4 in a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Monday, May 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) tries to gain control of the puck as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak (27) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) defend 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 right wing Ryan Hartman (38) tries to gain control of the puck as Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak (27) and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) defend 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)