What Went Wrong: How to End a Season in 32 Minutes and 52 Seconds

I hate the Minnesota Wild with a passion. They are fun to watch, though; been that way for the last few years. Regarding this year, it was fun to watch them show that they're much better than the Dallas Stars. It was fun knowing that the Wild and Stars would officially face each other in this year's playoffs. It was absolutely fun watching them beat and humiliate the Stars in the Central Semifinals in six games, that was truly a fun sight.

And most fun of all: seeing the Wild bend the knee to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Wild's first playoff series victory in 11 years earned them a meeting with Avs, the first in 12 years, and we all saw the result of Game One. 9-6. Nine to six! An absolute clinic! The offense stalled in Game Two, because it had nowhere else to go but down, but even so, the Wild found themselves down two heading home. Game Three saw the Wild find their bearings and hand us our first defeat of the 2026 playoffs, but Game Four was a disaster from the Wild. Despite scoring first, they were horrendously outshot, but it was 1-1 after 40, and then they gave up four goals in the third.

Game Five saw the Wild face elimination, but a funny thing happened (though I wasn't laughing). They put up three goals, just like that, in the first period. The first goal came within the first 30 seconds. They had 13 shots on goal to our 12, and sent Mackenzie Blackwood to the bench. Game Five was definitely Minnesota's to lose.

Boy, did they lose it.

That lead was intact entering the second half of regulation, but the Avalanche's goose egg hatched. Even so, Minnesota was up by two late, and that lead was gone in just two minutes in ten seconds. Overtime came for the first time in the series. McCarron swung and missed on a very early breakaway. That was their only chance. It took just 3:52, and of all people, it was Brett Kulak who put it in. Season over.

BTW, on a side note, thank you, Edmonton Oilers for being stupid enough to deal him and Stuart Skinner to Pittsburgh for a goalie who makes Skinner look like Grant Fuhr, thus allowing us to trade for Kulak. Just wanted to laugh at the Oilers again. Back to the subject.

What went wrong? Well, the Wild ran into a juggernaut, but they had a chance to really get something going with their backs to the wall. They had 13 shots on goal in the first period. They finished with 20. Outshot 9-3 in the 2nd, 9-4 in the 3rd, and 4-0 in OT. Can't win playing like that.

I know it makes the Avalanche/Wild rivalry fun, but I will never forgive the Vancouver Canucks for handing over Quinn Hughes, the closest thing to Cale Makar, to Minnesota for peanuts. The Central Division is monstrous enough as it is without Quinn Hughes landing in the home of one of our rivals. Regarding the playoffs, Hughes finished with 15 points (4G/11A) tying him for the leading with the other you-kn0w-who, Kirill Kaprizov (also 4G/11A). Matt Boldy was the goals leader with seven, and finished with 13 points. Brock Faber had 10 points (4G/6A), Mats Zuccarello finished with nine (2G/7A), and Ryan Hartman had seven (3G/4A). The Wild also played the entire second round without Joel Eriksson Ek, who had five points in Round 1.

In net, Jesper Wallstedt was brilliant against Dallas, but against Colorado, he was wrecked. To be fair, it was Colorado, and to be fair again, he wasn't Hellebuyck-style wrecked, but he was wrecked. Wallstedt's GAA went up quite a bit. Giving up 16 goals in the series (including eight in Game One) will do that. In all, Wallstedt went 5-5 with a .909 SV%, and a 2.77 GAA. Filip Gustavsson lost his only start--Game Two off that Central Final series. Another thing I want to point out. That 9-6 Game One? Fourteen different players scored in that game. You know who didn't? Kirill Kaprizov.

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The Wild pretty much had their best season in a decade, finally winning a series for the first time in 11 years, but getting smashed in the Elite Eight. The Wild are a more serious threat than ever now. Even with the elimination, they showed how dangerous they are. They have a pair of dynamos in Kaprizov and Boldy, they have quite a goaltending tandem, and now, they have Quinn Hughes. (again: thanks, Vancouver). The Wild are no joke. They're our #1 threat in the Central now, they proved it this year. I sense a very interesting offseason for the Wild, especially if they feel that they're a piece away from winning the whole thing.