Avalanche Game 76 Recap: A Wild Thursday

Boy, do I hate the Minnesota Wild.

I mean, you can't blame me for hating the Wild. After all, they are the Colorado Avalanche's longest tenured division rival. No lie there, folks. While the Battle of Quebec (Nordiques/Canadiens) only lasted 16 years, and was a division rivalry for only 14 of those years, the Wild and the Avalanche have been division rivals since 2000. Whether it's the Northwest Division, the current Central Division, or even the localized West Division from the COVID-affected 2020-21 season, we just can't get away from the Minnesota Wild.

That includes this game, the 76th of our season. The Avs' regular season will end with nothing but conference games, and this meeting with the Wild was the start of this seven-game stretch. The goalie matchup was Justus Annunen vs Filip Gustavsson, and the Avs struck early. Artturi Lehkonen scored at 4:34, with the assists coming from Jack Johnson and Casey Mittelstadt. However, the Wild didn't waste time striking back, as Vinni Lettieri tied it up at the 8:05 mark. Minnesota's elation was short lived, as Kirill Kaprizov ended up in the box, resulting in an Avalanche power play. It didn't take long for the Avs to capitalize, as Jonathan Drouin made it 2-1, with the helpers coming from Cale Makar and the man of the hour, Nathan MacKinnon.

2-1 was the score in the Avalanche's favor after 20 minutes, and at 43 seconds, it was Drouin again. MacKinnon and Devon Toews assisted, and the Avs were pressing...until Drouin ended up in the sin bin. Minnesota's PP was killed off, and the Avs ended up on the PP until Mikko Rantanen was called for slashing. The 4-on-4 became a Wild power play, and an obvious trip committed by Samuel Girard allowed the Wild to have 40 seconds of 5-on-3 time. Rantanen's penalty was killed off, but Girard's wasn't. Declan Chisholm made it 3-2 on the PP, with the assists coming from Kirill the Thrill and Mats Zuccarello. The 3-2 score held after 40 minutes, and both teams were really looking for goals of their own. Minnesota was definitely threatening to tie it up, but Colorado's drive to double the lead was stronger. It resulted in MacKinnon scoring from Drouin, marking three-point nights for both players. Gustavsson was pulled for the extra attacker, but that allowed Rantanen to ice it with an empty netter.

Another amazing win for the Avalanche: our 48th of the season. We are trying so badly to move ourselves closer to the Dallas Stars in the Central Division, and we have a golden opportunity. This game is the first of a back-to-back, and the Stars are off until Saturday. Regarding the key numbers, Jonathan Drouin had two goals and an assist, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, and Justus Annunen had 44 saves in net.

This is the Avs' first win since clinching a playoff spot on Saturday. We are three points away from staying in the Central's top three, and we are nine points away from getting home-ice in Round 1. There are two weeks left in the regular season, and they will be quite interesting for the teams who are still alive in this playoff race. As for the Avs, it's back to work on the following day, as we are off to Edmonton to embarrass the Oilers again.

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