Overview
- Playing Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota beat Colorado 5-1 to hand the Avalanche their first loss of the postseason and cut the series to 2-1.
- Kirill Kaprizov opened the scoring four-on-four, Quinn Hughes struck on a four-on-three power play, and Ryan Hartman added a second-period power-play goal for a 3-0 lead.
- Colorado pulled starter Scott Wedgewood early in the second after three goals and turned to Mackenzie Blackwood, as Nathan MacKinnon's power-play finish was answered 20 seconds later by Brock Faber.
- Jesper Wallstedt returned to Minnesota's net after sitting Game 2 and stopped 34 shots, with the Wild tightening gaps through the neutral zone and finally cashing in on two power plays.
- Game 4 is Monday in Minnesota, with the Avalanche facing goaltending decisions and the Wild still listing center Joel Eriksson Ek as day-to-day.