After a span of 21 minutes without a shot by the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov’s goal 9 minutes, 13 seconds into the second period sparked a comeback from two goals down thanks to Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal 5:08 later. But a terrible start to the third period led to a Jon Merrill turnover and, of all players, rugged defenseman Kurtis MacDermid scoring his first goal and point of the season to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Wild.
- The Wild are 3-8-4 in their past 15 games and 0-4-2 in their past six. They haven’t won since Nov. 7. They are seven points out of a playoff spot.
- The Wild will practice Saturday, then head to Detroit for a Sunday matinee.
Kaprizov came to play
It had been a tough start to the season for Kaprizov with one even-strength goal in his first 17 games, but it was obvious the Wild star was ready to pick up where he left off after one of his most active games of the season last Sunday against Toronto. From his first shift, Kaprizov was skating, shooting, serving pucks up on a platter for teammates and even crushing opponents. He finished with six shot attempts and got the Wild’s second-period comeback started with his sixth goal of the season 34 seconds after Valeri Nichushkin gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead on a power play.
Power play finally connects
After the Wild’s penalty kill was beaten for the 21st time this season for a 2-0 Avs lead, the Wild’s power play, which went 0 for 7 in two games in Sweden, finally connected after going shotless on their first two tries Friday. The Wild drew consecutive power plays for an abbreviated five-on-three and Joel Eriksson Ek came through with three shots. His final one ended up in the back of the Avs’ net when he gained goalmouth position on Josh Manson and just let Mats Zuccarello hit his blade with a perfect pass. It was Eriksson Ek’s team-leading ninth goal, five of which have come on the man advantage. The power play had a chance to tie the score late in the third but couldn’t convert.
Another so-so game from Matt Boldy
Two days after saying he knows he’s not playing great, Matt Boldy was so bad on Minnesota’s first two power plays assistant Jason King took him off the top power-play unit. He turned the puck over twice on the Wild’s shotless first one and then lost a board battle on the Wild’s shotless second one. Then, on the second unit, Boldy took an interference penalty with four seconds left in a power play with 2:22 left in the third to effectively end the game. He has one goal on the season and now has gone nine games without a goal since his return from an upper-body injury.
Three stars
1. Nichushkin, Avalanche: One of Colorado’s best forwards during its Stanley Cup championship two years ago scored on the power play and had five shots.
2. Eriksson Ek, Wild: Scored a power-play goal and a team-leading six shots.
3. Alexandar Georgiev, Avalanche: Went long spells without seeing Wild shots, but when he did, he was good, especially in the third on some Eriksson Ek and Boldy robberies.
(Photo: Nick Wosika / USA Today)
