The Minnesota Wild believe they discovered a blueprint to beat the Colorado Avalanche.
Now, the question is whether the Wild can follow the same plans for a second straight victory or whether the Avalanche will have designs of their own to retake control of the series.
The Wild and Avalanche will face off in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals matchup on Monday night in Saint Paul, Minn. The Avalanche own a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series but are coming off a 5-1 setback on Saturday that marked their first loss of the postseason.
Wild forward Ryan Hartman said he and his teammates needed to keep up their physicality.
“Obviously, they’re going to be settled a little more (in Game 4), and we expect a push,” Hartman said. “But expect more of the same from us.”
Colorado will try to bounce back from a loss, which is something coach Jared Bednar’s squad has not had to do yet in the playoffs. The Avalanche outscored the Wild 14-8 in the first two games before losing by four goals in Game 3.
“They came out hard, as we expected, in the first period in their own building,” Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog said. “I think they came out a lot better than we did. …
“It’s just, have a short memory, learn from it and move on. Come back stronger in Game 4.”
One area where the Avalanche will look to improve is on the penalty kill. They allowed a pair of power-play goals by the Wild in Game 3, which caught the attention of Landeskog and others.
“Our PK has been great for us all playoffs here and all season, really,” Landeskog said. “(On Saturday) they got a couple on us. … We need to push back on them in Game 4.”
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt likely will get the start on Monday. He allowed eight goals in a forgettable performance in the series opener and was benched for Game 2, but he returned to the net in Game 3 and turned aside 35 of 36 shots.
This postseason, Wallstedt is 5-3-0 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
The Avalanche likely will counter with Scott Wedgewood, who will look to bounce back after giving up three goals on 12 shots and getting pulled in the second period Saturday. Wedgewood is 6-1-0 with a 2.45 GAA and a .911 save percentage this postseason.
Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek hopes to return to action Monday after missing the first three games of the series because of a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek tallied five points (three goals, two assists) and a plus-minus rating of plus-7 in six playoff games before he was injured.
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in the playoffs. Quinn Hughes is next with 13 points (four, nine), and Matt Boldy has 11 points (seven, four).
Nathan MacKinnon leads Colorado with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the postseason. Landeskog is second with eight points (three, five), and Devon Toews and Martin Necas are tied for third on the team with seven points apiece.
Landeskog said the series features two highly skilled, competitive teams.
“We knew this was going to be a tough series, and here we are,” Landeskog said. “This is what we expected — and if you didn’t, I think you were a bit naive.”
