DENVER (AP) 鈥� Two of the NHL’s best defenses and a pair of the game’s ironfisted goaltenders are squaring off in Round 2, promising a paucity of pucks flashing the red light in the Minnesota-Colorado series, right?
Not in Game 1.
A whopping 14 players scored Sunday night, Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood gave up a half-dozen goals 鈥� one more than he allowed in his team’s sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 鈥� and yet the after Jesper Wallstedt surrendered a career-high eight goals before an empty-netter completed the madness.
鈥淚t was a weird one,鈥� said Avalanche star Cale Makar, the only player to score multiple goals in the opener of a series that resumes Tuesday night at Ball Arena with both teams pledging to tighten up their defense.
鈥淲eird game for sure,鈥� Wild defenseman Jake Middleton concurred. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 the playoffs, you can鈥檛 be too surprised with what transpires.鈥�
It was downright shocking to see so many goals, Avs center Nazem Kadri said.
鈥淲e did not expect that kind of game at all,鈥� Kadri said. 鈥淚n fact, quite the opposite.鈥�
The Avalanche, who surrendered the fewest goals in the regular season, jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the almost-as-stingy Wild less than seven minutes into the game only to have to sweat it out and forge a comeback themselves after Minnesota scored five of the next six goals.
鈥淚t felt like the puck, the puck just had eyes today for them,鈥� Wallstedt said.
There were five goals scored in each of the three periods.
鈥淵eah, it’s nothing either of us wants,鈥� Wedgewood said. 鈥淥bviously we want a couple of them back on both sides. But you鈥檝e got to give credit offenses. It鈥檚 playoff hockey.鈥�
The Avs, who won the President鈥檚 Trophy with the league鈥檚 best regular-season record, opened the playoffs with a pair of 2-1 nail-biters over the Kings. And the crowd clearly expected that pucks whacking the nets would be at a premium in this series, too.
鈥淰ersatility,鈥� Kadri said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we always talk about, whether we鈥檝e got to go high-flying offense or lock-down defense, I certainly feel comfortable in both scenarios and I know this team does as well.鈥�
Kadri looked at the bright side of the 15-goal slugfest, which he figured shouldn鈥檛 have been entirely unexpected given the Avalanche鈥檚 week off after sweeping LA while the Wild needed six games to dispatch Dallas in a competitive first round.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to win different ways come playoff time,鈥� Kadri said. 鈥淚 think we were a little loose and a little rusty defensively, but we鈥檒l get that tightened up. I think it鈥檚 just being off for a little while and defensively trying to get engaged in the game took a little longer than expected for us.
鈥淏ut at the end of the day, we found a way to win. On the flip side, the offensive side was going.鈥�
Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog said that although both teams are touted for their defense, 鈥渨e鈥檝e got some really good shooters on both teams,鈥� and that once it became a slugfest, it was all about surviving the onslaught.
鈥淵ou have to find ways to win,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e took the lead and they tied it back up and then they took the lead and we tied it back up, it was just back and forth, you鈥檙e just trying to find a way to win the hockey game, you鈥檙e trying to find a way to stop the bleeding. And you鈥檙e just trying to settle into the game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be able to win games like this, not necessarily a coach鈥檚 dream or a player鈥檚 dream. We don鈥檛 want to give up six goals. So, it鈥檚 good to win this one, but we鈥檝e got lots of things to clean up.鈥�
Makar opened the third period with an unassisted goal to break a 5-all tie, and his wrist shot with 2:54 remaining 鈥� the fifth by an Avs defenseman 鈥� made it 8-6. This, after missing 17 minutes of the first period with a lower-body injury.
鈥淭hat’s Cale Makar doing Cale Makar things,鈥� Landeskog said.
鈥淵eah, I mean, there’s a lot to unpack in this one,鈥� Wild coach John Hynes said. 鈥淲as a bit of a helter-skelter game. Obviously you can tell by the score. We鈥檒l take a look at some things and take some lessons out of this one. Be ready for Game 2.鈥�
Hynes insisted he never considered pulling his goaltender.
鈥淣o, I thought Wally played … look what the score was,鈥� Hynes said. 鈥淎nd their guy was in for a lot of goals against, too.鈥�
___
AP NHL playoffs: and
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
