- The Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 in Game 3 on Saturday night
- Kirill Kaprizov had three points and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 34 shots in the bounce-back win
- See video and full analysis of the Wild’s Game 3 win over the Avalanche below
The Avalanche aren’t perfect anymore.
Minnesota beat Colorado 5-1 in Game 3 on Saturday night at Grand Casino Arena to hand the Avs their first loss of the 2026 playoffs. Kirill Kaprizov led the way with a goal and two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 34 shots in his return to the net.
Watch the Wild’s Game 3 highlights:
Kaprizov struck first. With 4:49 left in the opening period, he took a feed from Brock Faber on a 4-on-4 and lifted it over Scott Wedgewood for the 1-0 lead.
Marcus Foligno called it Kaprizov’s best game of the year. Hard to argue with that one. He was all over the puck and finishing his chances.
Quinn Hughes made it 2-0 just 1:33 later on the power play. Hughes has looked exactly like what Minnesota hoped for since coming over from Vancouver in December, and his goal stood as the game-winner.
Ryan Hartman delivered the play of the night. He batted a deflection out of midair with 4:23 elapsed in the second period for a 3-0 lead, which chased Wedgewood from the net.
Asked about the goal after, Hartman wasn’t shy.
“I was there a while, and (Zuccarello) was kind of waiting for that lane to open, and kind of never did. So he tried forcing it through his legs, and was maybe even going in. But I wouldn’t leave that up to chance. So tried to give it a little boost.”
Nathan MacKinnon got Colorado on the board on a second-period power play, but Faber answered 20 seconds later by deflecting a puck past Mackenzie Blackwood. Matt Boldy capped it with an empty-netter at 19:56 of the third.
Check out Boldy’s dagger:
Don’t sleep on Wallstedt’s bounce-back. The 21-year-old got the Game 3 start after getting pulled in the Game 1 wild west show, where he gave up eight goals on 42 shots. Hynes still went back to him five days later, and Wallstedt rewarded the trust with 34 saves on 35 shots.
The Avalanche came in 6-0 in the playoffs and looked like a buzzsaw. Now Minnesota has clawed back into a series I thought was over after two games in Denver.
Here’s Brock Faber and the Wild on flipping the page to Game 4:
Colorado still leads the best-of-seven 2-1. Game 4 is back at Grand Casino Arena on Monday, and the Wild have a real shot to even this up before it shifts back to Ball Arena.
