ST. PAUL, Minn. — On a night where the shorthanded Colorado Avalanche desperately needed contributions from some of the other guys, they delivered.
Parker Kelly and Ross Colton scored huge third-period goals Monday night to help the Avs fend off the Minnesota Wild, 5-2, in Game 4 of this second-round series at Grand Casino Arena.
The Avs, despite playing without Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski, now lead the series 3-1. They can close it out Wednesday night in Game 5 at Ball Arena.
“You never know when your opportunity is going to come,” Kelly said. “Ross has been playing great, our line’s been playing great. Everyone’s just been trying to do the right thing, and you just got to stay ready. It’s one shot. It’s one play you got to bear down on that’s probably going to come your way.
“It’s just about staying ready, and all these guys in here are ready. It was a great goal by Ross to get us up, and then (Mackenzie Blackwood) shut it down for us.”
Kelly’s first goal of this postseason put the Avalanche ahead with 8:28 remaining in the third period. Jack Drury made a great play to cause a turnover and get the puck to Kelly for a shot from between the tops of the circles.
Blackwood made 19 saves in his first start during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including several big ones early in the third period.
Colton gave the Avs their first lead of the night at 6:56 of the third period. At the end of a long shift in the offensive zone, Nicolas Roy corralled the puck in the high slot and found Colton to his left with a great pass for a one-timer and Colton’s first goal of this postseason.
“It was a great win,” Colton said. I think it starts with (Blackwood) coming in. He was awesome all night. He kept us in it. … But like Parker said before, just the depth of this team, it’s pretty special. We’ve seen it all year. I mean, this guy (Kelly) scored 20-something (goals). That’s pretty awesome. And again, it’s kind of just the next guy mentality.”
Former Avs forward Nico Sturm leveled this one at 2-2 a little more than two minutes later. He and Brock Nelson got tangled up in the right corner, and when Sturm got up and cut to the net, Quinn Hughes found him for a one-timer. It was the first goal of this postseason for Sturm, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022.
The Avs dominated the start of this game on the shot clock, but it took a little more than 26 minutes to solve Minnesota goalie Wallstedt. Nazem Kadri scored on his own rebound during a power play at 6:08 of the second period, seven seconds after ex-Avs forward Yakov Trenin was penalized for closing his hand on the puck.
Martin Necas set up Kadri on the play, drawing ire from the home fans for knocking Wild defenseman Brock Faber to the ice to win a puck battle before sending the puck across the zone to Kadri. It was Kadri’s second goal of the postseason and Colorado’s fifth with the extra man in this series.
Necas also set up an empty-net tally from Nathan MacKinnon in the final minute to seal the win, and then Nelson added another with eight seconds left.
The Avs held a 20-4 lead in shots on goal at one point during the second period, and a 17-1 advantage in scoring chances at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, but Wallstedt, who allowed eight goals in Game 1, a 9-6 Avs win and didn’t play in Game 2, was spectacular at times, particularly early in the second as the visitors pushed for an equalizer.
Colorado was in control for most of the opening seven minutes of this game, but a collision between Minnesota’s Michael McCarron and Josh Manson was a pivotal point in the first period. As they were wrestling on the ground away from the play, McCarron spun off Manson and writhed on the ice in apparent pain.
There was no call while the puck was in play, but the officials conferred and reviewed the tussle for a potential major penalty. The end result was a double-minor for butt-ending. The officials determined that Manson attempted to hit McCarron with the butt end of his stick.
The Avs killed off the first half, but Danila Yurov tipped a Brock Faber point shot past Blackwood to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 9:46 of the opening period. McCarron did a first intermission interview with ESPN, during which he called Manson a “dirty player.”
Lehkonen and Malinski were both late scratches for this game because of upper-body injuries. Both participated in the morning skate, but the team announced their absences just as pre-game warmups began.
“Obviously those two guys, they mean a lot to the team,” Blackwood said. “But I think anybody we throw in there, they know what the job is and and how to do it. I think we’re pretty resilient, and we showed that today.”
Manson returned to the lineup after missing the past four games, and Joel Kiviranta was back in the lineup after missing the past five. The Avs also gave Jack Ahcan his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, inserting him for Nick Blankenburg.
MacKinnon exited near the end of the second period after Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, on the left side of the Avalanche net, tried to clear a puck that the Avs star didn’t see until it hit him square in the nose. MacKinnon immediately dropped his stick and crumpled to the ice while covering his bleeding face with both hands.
After a trainer ran onto the ice, MacKinnon skated to the locker room with a towel over his face, but was back on the bench by the start of the third period.
“Looking at our roster and the way the game went, there’s a lot to like,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I didn’t think we had any passengers tonight from our goaltender out. Guys played hard, regardless of ice time. Every time they hit the ice, they were ready to go. You have to be pretty happy with that.”
