DENVER (AP) — The depth of the Colorado Avalanche has been on full display against Minnesota. They're far from reliant on just the star power of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Players like Ross Colton, Parker Kelly and Jack Drury have turned into key contributors. They've done their part in helping the Avalanche build a 3-1 lead over the Wild in their second-round playoff series with Game 5 on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET on TNT) at Ball Arena.
The Avalanche can wrap up their first postseason series win at home since 2008, when a team featuring Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg beat the Wild — who had a youthful Brent Burns — in six games during the conference quarterfinals.
From top line to fourth line, the Avalanche have an abundance of goal scorers. They've notched 20 goals in this series from 15 different scorers. That matches the most through four games of a series in playoff history, a mark set by Chicago in the 1985 division finals, according to the NHL.
“It’s just belief in this room, confidence in this room, determination,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “Those three things, and you sprinkle in the skill that we have and the depth that we have, it’s a powerful combination.”
The Avalanche made wholesale changes for Game 4. They went with Mackenzie Blackwood in net over Scott Wedgewood. They also inserted forward Joel Kiviranta and defenseman Jack Ahcan — making his Stanley Cup playoffs debut — given the late scratches of Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski due to upper-body injuries.
“Anybody we throw in there, they know what the job is and how to do it,” said Blackwood, who made 19 saves in a 5-2 win in Game 4. “We’re pretty resilient.”
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has so much faith in his fourth line that he had that combination out there late in a one-goal game Monday.
“You want to be able to be trusted in those situations,” Kelly said. “You can’t have Nate and Gabe and the really good shutdown guys out there all the time. It's just a kudos to the depth. It could be anyone going out there to try to buy some time, shut it down quick, and keep the game going in our direction."
The Avalanche got back physical defenseman Josh Manson for Game 4 after he missed time with an upper-body injury. He drew 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. Manson was fined $5,000 on Tuesday, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. McCarron called Manson a “dirty player.”
“He’s not that,” Bednar said Tuesday after the team arrived back in Denver. "I don’t see him as a dirty player. He’s a physical guy, though, and he’s going to play hard in between the whistles.”
The Avalanche have won seven of their opening eight postseason games for the third time in team history. The last two occurrences, 2001 and 2022, ended with a parade to celebrate a Stanley Cup title.
“We know the game is going to be that much tougher tomorrow,” Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor said. “They’re playing for their lives.”
Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and the rest of the Wild realize the difficult task ahead in winning three straight, including two at Ball Arena. The Avalanche are 4-0 at home in this postseason.
“It’s about going there and winning a game. That’s all it is,” Boldy said. “You’ve got to go take care of business there ... take it one game at a time.”
Kirill Kaprizov and Boldy have been under constant surveillance in this series, with Boldy held to one empty-net goal and an assist. The Wild are also struggling without the net-front presence of Joel Eriksson Ek, who’s been sidelined this series by a lower-body injury. He and defenseman Jonas Brodin won't make the trip to Colorado for Game 5.
Wild coach John Hynes thought his team “made a conscious choice” not to play the style of game that was needed to win like they did in Game 3. In that game, they got pucks deep into the zone and were strong on the forecheck.
“I know it’s a cliche, but you can’t sit there and think we’ve got to win three games at once," Boldy said. "You go, you take care of business there, you come back, and go from there. You look at the next game, the next one and whatever happens, happens.
“That’s the approach in this room and we’re confident in our group.”
___
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
