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In all, the forward line of Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello collected six points (1-5–6) to go with with goals by Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin to provide all of the Wild’s offense. Kaprizov and Zuccarello displayed amazing chemistry when together last season, but this was the first opportunity for the two dynamic players to skate with Eriksson Ek between them and the results spoke for themselves.

“I’m excited to play with [Kaprizov], and also Ekky,” Zuccarello said. “I think he’s done great job getting us the pucks and doing the job that you probably don’t see on the score sheet that often, but he was right there today creating all three goals.”

While Wild coach Dean Evason clearly enjoyed the offensive spark the trio provided, he was most pleased with their effort in the defensive side of the game.

“Yes, we know, they clearly have a chemistry … but if we can play them head-to-head against some top lines, that’s exciting for us,” Evason said. “But they have to be committed to checking, they have to be committed to doing the right things defensively, in all three zones, and they did that so that was as exciting as the offensive looks that they had.”

Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced in playing the full game to pick up the win. Alex Newhook’s late third-period goal spoiled the shutout for Minnesota’s second year goaltender. Former Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper faced 35 shots in his first St. Paul appearance in a Colorado sweater, making 32 saves in the loss.

Kirill Kaprizov let’s it rip. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Evason iced a veteran-laden team as they opened the preseason home schedule with Matt Boldy as the lone prospect in the lineup. Meanwhile, Avs coach Jared Bednar went 180 degrees the other direction with J.T. Compher, he of 271 NHL games, the sole veteran returning player to skate against Minnesota on Monday.

Former Devil Ryan Murray (395 NHL games with Columbus and New Jersey) and Artem Ansimov (771 games with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks and Senators) joined Compher as the three most experienced players in a Colorado lineup which otherwise averaged 29 NHL games, including six with no NHL games under their belts.

Minnesota carried a 2-0 lead into the third period on goals by Spurgeon and Kaprizov in the second period’s first and final minutes, respectively. Eriksson Ek fed a pass from the right circle to Kaprizov along the goal line to Kuemper’s left and he found Spurgeon cutting left-to-right across the low slot who banged it home for a 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the period.

Later, Kaprizov picked up where he left off with Zuccarello last season, finishing off a give-and-go with his favorite linemate to double Minnesota’s lead at the 19:09 mark of the second. In the middle of it all was Eriksson Ek driving to the net with Matt Dumba, reeking havoc on the inexperienced Avalanche defense.

“Zucci and Kirill’s movement is fantastic but, you know, if there’s someone else moving too then there’s nobody in front of that and Ek, obviously, gets to the net,” Evason said. “One he’s screening the goalie. Two there’s usually, well there is, somebody else there, so now it opens even more room for these guys to be creative so we think the Ekky fits perfect.”

Brodin capped Minnesota’s scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle which beat Kuemper through a screen set by, of course, Eriksson Ek. Kaprizov and Zuccarello each picked up their second assists of the night on the play.

Minnesota returns to preseason action on Wednesday, Oct. 6 when the Wild hosts the St. Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center.

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Walz, Stalock reflect on Avs rivalry from diverse perspectives

ST. PAUL — A couple of things stand out to former Minnesota Wild center Wes Walz about the 2003 first-round playoff series between Colorado and Minnesota. First, it was a pre-series meeting complete with line combinations against the Avalanche written out on a board.

“It was going to be my line against (Peter) Forsberg’s line, and Jimmy Dowd was going to play mostly against (Joe) Sakic’s line,” Walz said. “We knew going into the series exactly what was going to happen. We were looking at the board, and we were all saying, ‘we can beat these guys.’”

Did the Wild know they were going to come back from the first of two 3-to-1 deficits in those 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs? No. But Walz knew they could go into Denver and at least be competitive with their rival, and part of that was based on the fact that the Wild had already beaten Colorado during the regular season.

Those 2003 playoffs is something current Wild goaltender Alex Stalock remembers watching at home as a fan.

“I lived that as a teenager,” Stalock said. “And man, that was an incredible run. Every night you sat down and watched those games, every minute.”

The Wild, still a relatively new franchise, didn’t need home-ice advantage to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals that season.

The first series ended with an overtime, game-seven win in Colorado. It was a season and a series that sparked a rivalry with the Avalanche. Walz was one of the leading scorers for the Wild in the playoffs that year, with 7 goals and 13 points in 18 games behind leader Marian Gaborik’s 9 goals and 17 points.

“I still believe that big rivalries are created through playoffs,” said Walz, now retired and a Wild analyst with FSNorth. “But with Colorado, it’s always just kind of been there. We beat them in 2002-03. There were a lot of spirited games that we played during regular-season games that specific year.

“Why that is, I’m not 100 percent sure.”

Maybe, as he goes on to mention, it was the “astronomical” payrolls of the Wild opponents in those early years of the franchise. Or it was the hall-of-famers on the other bench that got the Wild playing so hard against them because “we were just scared to be embarrassed because they were that good,” Walz said.

Tempers can flare when the Wild and Avalanche meet and they did just that in Game 6 of their 2014 Stanley Cup first-round series on April 28, 2014 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The playoff history between these two teams includes 2008 when Colorado beat the Wild in six games and then again in 2014 when the Wild once again won with some game-seven, overtime-magic at the Pepsi Center, this time with the winner from Nino Niederreiter. Each matchup with these two clubs has been in the first round of the playoffs. 

“When you’re looking at just a pure rivalry on the ice between different teams, it seems like this rivalry that we have built between Colorado has been something that’s been very real and it feels like it’s been there almost since day one,” Walz said.

The Wild and Colorado have the “rival” label placed on their games because they play in the same division. Colorado is the only team that’s played in the same division as the Wild even dating back to before the NHL realignment 2013-14. The Wild hold a 52-41-11 (29-18-5 at home) all-time record against the Avalanche, the second-most points (115) and wins against any NHL franchise. That record includes a 3-2 Wild victory over Colorado on Thursday.

“We brought up the word ‘rivalry’ before the game tonight,” Stalock said.

But rivalries aren’t what they used to be – “not as mean and dirty as they used to be” – changing over the past 15 to 20 years, according to Walz. With the roster turnover in today’s NHL, it’s more likely that a fan base becomes attached to the history of a particular rivalry rather than it sticking with the players.

For the Wild, only Mikko Koivu is left from the 2008 team that lost to Colorado. Even the 2014 team a few years ago only boasts Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin as players that remain.

“There’s players coming and going so often,” Walz said. “You don’t see guys playing in one spot their whole careers anymore. You very rarely see it.”

Recent rivals Ryan Suter and Nathan MacKinnon go head-to-head in a corner battle during Minnesota’s 3-2 win over Colorado on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. MacKinnon was limited to a single assist. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

But Walz suggests that it’s not so much a rivalry with a certain team as it is a different way of looking at things. The Wild will look at the Avalanche and the specifics of how to beat them, for instance.

“It’s Nathan MacKinnon. ‘How can we try to keep him off the scoreboard to give ourselves a chance to win?’” Walz said.

The Wild didn’t keep MacKinnon off the sheet completely on Thursday  – he had an assist on the first of two Colorado goals from Cale Makar – but the overall goal was accomplished with the Wild win. A little payback for a 4-2 Wild loss in Denver back on Oct. 5.

Mats Zuccarello and Jordan Greenway scored goals 53 seconds apart early in the second period for a 2-0 lead before Makar tied it later in the period. Jason Zucker scored the game-winner about halfway through the third period. Stalock made 27 saves for his second consecutive victory; he’s 5-3-0.

“I think we did everything we could tonight,” Greenway said. “Everyone contributed. Al (Stalock) played great. Everyone did their roles, which led to the win.

With the Wild swimming near the basement on the NHL standings, a playoff meeting between these two might not be on the horizon for a while. Even with a disappointing start to the season for the Wild, momentum can always shift on a dime. Walz remembers that from when the team was staring at three potential elimination games against Colorado back in 2003.

Following the game-four loss, the Wild had a bad practice before leaving for Colorado and “our coaches weren’t happy,” Walz recalled. They had a team dinner/meeting the following night to discuss matters with coach Jacques Lemaire and then-general manager Doug Risebrough, who did 90 percent of the talking, according to Walz. Risebrough talked about his years as a player and winning Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens.

“The one thing that stuck out to me in this conversation, when he spoke for about a half an hour, was how momentum can change a series instantly,” Walz said. “Winning one game can kind of get the ball rolling.

“I remember walking out of the meeting that night in the hotel. Honestly, I’m not just saying this, I really couldn’t wait for the game to start. I wanted to walk over to Pepsi Center that night and play.”

The Wild came back with a trio of 3-2 victories in games five through seven, with the last two coming in overtime on goals from Richard Park and Andrew Brunette.

The Wild haven’t been back to the Conference Finals since 2003.

Perhaps it can serve as motivation for the current Wild team, to inspire the younger generation of kids, like Stalock during that magical run.

“It’s, I think, what a lot of guys in here want to do for the kids watching now,” Stalock said. “They can have the memory and say, ‘I remember when you guys did this.’ So I think that’s our goal.” 

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Wild keep doing just enough to find success

St. Paul – You have to wonder what the Wild will look like if they ever find their real game.

Through 22 games this season, Minnesota’s offense has relied basically on a three-pronged attack while the defense has alternated between spotty and acceptable.

Yet the Wild, after nipping the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 via shootout Friday at the Xcel Energy Center, raised their record to 11-8-3 and continued showing signs of doing exactly it takes to keep moving forward.

On the day after Thanksgiving, goals by Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter forged a 2-2 tie through regulation, and shootout goals by Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart plus perfect goaltending by Alex Stalock combined for the victory.

Just business as usual, according to Capt. Mikko Koivu.

“You’re going to have those shifts or moments inside a game where the other team, they get momentum or get chances,” Koivu said. “You’ve just got to play defense and then try to get it back again.”

Minnesota’s blue line players — with the notable exceptions of steady Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon — have been hit and miss this season. That said, the forward line of Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Daniel Winnik demonstrated on Friday how to shut down one of the NHL’s top lines. Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, who came to St. Paul with a combined 22 goals in 20 games, were hounded by the Wild trio all afternoon and finished with six shots and just one assist.

Coach Bruce Boudreau said that was exactly the plan going into the game.

“All three of those guys are very good defensively,” Boudreau said. “It was on the board that we were going to do a hard match against those guys. They take that to heart and they did a really good job against them.”

The win left the Wild with a 6-1-1 record over their past eight games, along with a 6-3-2 home record.

Offense, as usual, came from Zucker (a team-leading 12 goals) and Niederreiter (nine goals including seven in his past six games). Staal with seven goals and 13 assists, has been the other force on offense.

Koivu and Suter each contributed 11 assists through 22 games, but 28 of Minnesota’s first 67 goals came from Zucker, Niederreiter and Staal.

Both Boudreau and Koivu said that’s of little consequence. Other guys will pick up the slack, Koivu pointed out, and after he had six shots on goal Friday, don’t be surprised if he’s one of those other guys.

The Wild — still missing forward Zach Parise because of back surgery, are making this a community effort this season.

It seems to be working.

‘Every game I think we’ve played this year has been a nail-biter,” Boudreau said. “If we’re not competing, we’re going to struggle.” However, he added, tight games “get you ready.”

Probably more important, Boudreau pointed out, “We’ve done pretty well for 22 games now.”

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St. Paul – Erik Haula tossed his stick to Matt Dumba after Dumba broke his Tuesday night.

“I won’t do that again,” Haula said.

Haula quickly discovered that it’s a penalty to do so, and got a delayed call for flipping his stick. During that delay, the Colorado Avalanche scored to pull within 3-2 in the second period of Tuesday night’s big Wild-Avalanche game at the Xcel Energy Center.

But it was a rare mistake for Haula as the Wild scored three goals in the first period and three in the third to defeat Colorado 6-3 and pull even with the Avs for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

Haula scored his team’s third goal, went plus-three for the evening and has now tallied five goals and seven assists in Minnesota’s past 12 games.

Coincidence or not, the Wild have won six of their past nine games under interim coach John Torchetti, whose team got two goals from Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle plus a goal and two assists from Jason Pominville and two assists from Zach Parise in front of 19,107 Tuesday night.

The line of Haula, Pominville and Niederreiter started the game for Minnesota and not only contributed seven points, but mostly shut down the Avs’ big line of Gabriel Landeskog, Mikkel Boedker and Nathan MacKinnon.

His three, Torchetti explained, “want to play on both sides of the puck. I think the whole team can learn from that.”

Each of the three had a first-period goal as Minnesota jumped to a 3-1 lead and threatened to pull away, but Colorado came back to tie in the second period. Coyle broke the tie 5:34 into the third period, then added an empty-netter as did Niederreiter.

“Our line’s working well,” Haula said. “We ended up getting some good plays off the rush there in the first period; getting three goals is always nice. And then we stuck with it. Second period probably could have been a little better, but overall a good job and a good win.”

Haula, a three-year regular at the University of Minnesota, scored the dazzling go-ahead goal Sunday when Minnesota defeated Florida 3-1. A part-timer or mostly a checking-line center until this season, he has played 58 of Minnesota’s 65 games and leads the team with a plus-16 rating. His surge has been timely and astonishing: he had four goals and seven assists for 11 points through his first 46 games.

But it has come as no surprise to Torchetti, who previously coached Haula with the Houston Aeros when Haula broke into pro hockey in 2013.

“He’s skating,” Torchetti said. “He’s moving his feet, and his speed really shows when that happens.”

Haula shrugged off his great play of late.

“Got to give credit to Nino and Pommer, too, they made great plays tonight,” he said.

Chemistry among the three has become obvious of late.

“We read off each other pretty well,” Haula said. “The dynamics are there for our line and we understand what we have to do night in and night out with the matchups.”

While the offense has been clicking for Haula of late, he insists he’s still a role player who needs to contribute on defense, as well.

“I know my role,” he said. “Playing against those top lines and trying to keep them off the board and then creating offense from there, we’ve got some good looks.”

The looks seem to be finding Haula much the way they did at the University of Minnesota, when the 5-foot-11 Finn totaled 100 points over his sophomore and junior seasons.

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Dumba worthy of only praise after another game-winner

St. Paul — The Wild have stopped it cold.

A week ago players were muttering and cursing and gnashing their teeth, but after Minnesota got a combined shutout from Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kemper Saturday night, the Wild are riding a three-game winning streak.

Their November stretch of losing six of seven games is a distant memory. So, too, it seems, is any difficulty their defense had in shutting down the opposition.

After defeating Chicago 2-1 and Toronto 1-0 earlier this week, the Wild took a unique path to a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in front of 19,173 at the Xcel Energy Center Saturday and extended their record to 14-7-4.

Dubnyk departed with a lower-body injury halfway through the second period with the score tied 0-0, but Matt Dumba ripped home his second winning goal in as many games just three minutes later and the Wild stoned Colorado.

“I was impressed with how we handled that,” coach Mike Yeo said.

Minnesota allowed just nine shots on goal over the final 30 minutes and got a goal from Justin Fontaine plus Jason Pominville’s empty-netter to remove any late doubts in the first of a home-and-home series with the Avs.

Dumba’s booming shot from the point at 13:27 of the second period snapped a 0-0 tie, giving him four goals this season and two in three nights. This came just a few days after Yeo gave him a bit of a talking-to for tightening up his play.

“It feels good,” Dumba said. “I always want to help the team; we’re playing good hockey right now. I worked hard through all that stuff.”

Kuemper had to be prepared to play because Dubnyk’s wife is expecting their second baby imminently, but he didn’t expect to have to go into the game cold.

“He looked composed and confident,” Yeo said.

It didn’t hurt that Dumba gathered in a pass from Mikael Granlund and beat the Avs’ Semyon Varlamov with a blistering shot so quickly after the goalie change.

“That was big,” Dumba said. “It just worked out nicely. Duby played a great game, and Darcy came in and just shut it down. It was awesome to see out of both of ’em.”

Dubnyk, whose record is now 13-7-2, appeared to hurt his knee, but Yeo said later that he does not believe the injury is serious. Nevertheless, with the regular goaltender on baby watch, Yeo said he won’t be surprised if Kuemper starts Monday night in Colorado with Niklas Backstrom backing him up.

As well, no one will be surprised if the puck comes to the point and Dumba unleashes his blistering shot.

“If the shot’s there,” he said, “I’m probably going to take it.”

Yeo called this win a total team effort, from the play of the two goalies and Dumba to the strong play of defenseman Marco Scandella and numerous others. Fontaine, for example, was stopped by Varlamov on the doorstep early in the third period, but seconds later got his stick on a shot by Scandella to deflect it into the goal.

“It would have been nice to finish it off earlier,” Fontaine said, “but it was a good shot (by Scandella). It was a perfect height. You know, you work on those tips after games, and that one felt good.”

There is a calmness surrounding the Wild right now, a bit of a turnaround after they dropped their third consecutive home games a week earlier.

No one seems to be fazed by much of anything.

Kuemper, for example, sprayed water on his face, skated into the ice and appeared unperturbed over the final 30 minutes what was just his fourth game this season.

“The guys did a real good job of allowing me to work my way into the game,” he said. “They didn’t give up much. It’s never an easy situation coming in, but when the guys play like that it kind of allows you to build into it.”

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Late rally falls short as Colorado beats Minnesota for first time this season

The Colorado Avalanche demonstrated that no NHL team is unbeatable Sunday night, holding off a team that maintained possession of the puck most of the evening to claim a 3-2 win over the Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota had won five games in a row and eight of its previous nine, but the highly anticipated matchup against the Avs ended with 19,119 home customers going home a bit dissatisfied.

There were just seven penalties and one fight, despite an abundance of pregame chatter about the sky-high animosity between the combatants.

“The hype and the build-up to these games is almost 90 percent of the time far more than what the outcome is,” Wild coach Mike Yeo noted.

The Wild, their fans pumped from the drop of the puck for something dramatic, not only did not kick butt but were not even able clamp down on chief antagonists Cody McLeod and Gabriel Landeskog. The duo who drew NHL fines for their antics at the conclusion of the most-recent meeting between the teams nine days previous each scored as the Avs beat the Wild for the only time in five meetings this season.

Bad-boy McLeod scored Colorado’s first goal and Landeskog the game-winner early in the third period as the Avs fended off a Minnesota attack that outshot them 34-21 and launched an additional 35 shots that were blocked or went wide.

The total, including Colorado’s 14 attempts that were blocked or missed the net: 69 to 35 in favor of the home team.

“I thought we dominated the play,” Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. “They got a couple of bounces, but we played a solid game. We just weren’t able to score early.”

Goals in the final two minutes of each of the first two periods gave Colorado a 2-0 lead, and the Avs made it 3-0 on Landeskog’s power-play marker just 1:19 into the final period.

“We tried hard to climb back in it, but we couldn’t get enough,” Wild winger Zach Parise observed.

Tried valiantly, truth be told.

With the Wild on a power play and more than seven minutes remaining, Yeo pulled goalie Devan Dubnyk for nearly a minute to try to slice into the 3-0 deficit.

They were stymied by goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Minnesota’s Chris Stewart – he dropped the gloves to square off with McLeod just 43 seconds into the game – got a bounce off a defender to bring the Wild within 3-1, but by then, less than six minutes remained. Thomas Vanek’s rebound goal pulled the Wild within one in the final minute, but the Avs held on.

The sport of hockey simply does not always dispense justice, Parise said.

“We played one good period in Carolina (on Friday) and got away with a win there,” he said. “I don’t think we played well enough tonight throughout the whole game to get a win from those guys. You could tell they were ready right away.”

As expected, Stewart said.

“Any time you play a division game, you know it’s going to be a tough battle,” he said. “It’s going to be tough; it doesn’t matter who you’re playing or where they are in the standings. Everyone’s coming for two points.”

This was a rare game when the other goaltender made the biggest plays: Varlamov stopped 29 of 30 shots before leaving late in the third period, apparently because he was hit in the neck or shoulder earlier by a blast off the stick of Matt Dumba.

Dubnyk, who started his franchise-record 24th consecutive game, stopped 18 of 21 shots and saw his scintillating record with the Wild drop to 18-4-1 with a .937 save percentage.

But as Suter observed, this turned out to be one of those nights for the Wild.

“I thought we did enough good things to maybe win,” Yeo said, “but not enough good things to make certain we won.”

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