Original article found on Hockey Mountain High

The Colorado Avalanche took a chaotic, high-scoring Game One victory over the Minnesota Wild by a nice scoreline of 9-6 on Sunday night. Between the two teams, there were 14 different goal scorers, the most in a playoff game since 1998.

In addition, the nine goals scored by the burgundy and blue are the most goals in a single playoff game in Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history. It took a lot to get there in the first place, and the track meet was won out by the Avs to take a very important series lead.

View From the Mountaintop

It took one game for the Avs to almost match the number of goals they had in their first three games of the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. This game was chaotic and a complete 180 in comparison to all of the games against the Kings. Luckily for Colorado, the offense showed up and showed out from the get-go. Jumping ahead to a 3-0 lead was a near-perfect start, but they had their ebbs and flows. They rebounded when they fell behind at the end of the second, and exploded in the third period. For some fans, it might have been a reminder of another chaotic high-scoring playoff game: the first game of the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers, where the Avs won in a similar fashion, 8-6.

A lot of the scoring came from several players who needed it. All but five players recorded a point for the Avalanche. Devon Toews led the way for Colorado with a goal and three assists. In addition, there were three-point nights for Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and Martin Necas. Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, and Sam Malinski each had two points. Jack Drury also netted a goal, alongside Nick Blankenburg and Nazem Kadri. Kadri’s goal wound up being the game-winner.


However, what was a strong suit for the Avalanche in the first round this year certainly wasn’t at its best on Sunday night. Jared Bednar and the Kings’ head coach, DJ Smith, had praised the defensive efforts of the Avs. It was far from its best due to some circumstances. Blankenburg did not play his best, as did his defensive partner, Brent Burns. It showed how much Colorado misses the currently-injured Josh Manson. In this game, the Avalanche were missing a couple of defenders at different points.


Makar took a hard hit in the opening minutes, which kept him out for the majority of the first period. Later on, Malinski took a puck to the face, which left him cut and needing some stitches. A shakeup of pairs at points left the Avs exposed and not at their best. They’ll certainly know it and want to get it fixed before Game Two. However, both did return during the game. Furthermore, Scott Wedgewood looked human with his first “bad” game of the playoffs. But none of the goals were on him, and he was still solid when called upon.

Up Next

Game Two of this series takes place on Tuesday night with a nice, early 6:00 p.m. MT puck drop.