Uff da, that was a real barn burner last night.
### What in the Heck Happened
Well, if you went to bed early last night, you missed a wild one, you betcha. The Minnesota Wild fell to the Colorado Avalanche 9-6 on the road, and honestly, it felt like a roller coaster at the State Fair. The first period was a real mess, with the Avalanche scoring three quick ones from Samuel Malinski, J. Drury, and Artturi Lehkonen, including a power play goal. We clawed back with goals from Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman, who got a nice assist from Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes. But then the second period hit, and it was just back-and-forth chaos. We got goals from Vladimir Tarasenko, Quinn Hughes, and Matt Foligno even got a shorthanded beauty, but Colorado just kept coming. Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon just looked like they were playing pond hockey out there, and our defense... well, let's just say it wasn't the strong, Minnesota-nice wall we usually expect.
### Key Moments and Players
The Avalanche just had our number, especially on defense. Cale Makar had two goals and Nathan MacKinnon had one, but it felt like they were everywhere. For the Minnesota Wild, Quinn Hughes had a standout night with a goal and an assist, really trying to make things happen. Mats Zuccarello added a goal in the third, but by then, Colorado had a pretty firm grip on things with goals from D. Toews and Nazem Kadri. It felt like every time we got a little momentum, Colorado would just turn it right back on us. The shots were 43-36 in favor of the Avalanche, which tells you they were just pouring it on. It’s hard to watch our boys give up that many, especially when you think about all the dedicated youth hockey players in Minneapolis and across Minnesota looking up to them.
### What It Means Going Forward
This loss doesn't change much for the Minnesota Wild in the standings right now – we're still sitting third in the Central Division with 104 points, with a 46-24-12 record. We've won six of our last ten, so this one stings, but it's not the end of the world. What it does mean is we need to tighten things up, especially defensively, if we want to make a real run in the playoffs. Mickey's Diner is probably full of folks this morning talking about what went wrong, and you betcha, they're probably right. We've got to regroup and get ready for the next one. We can't be giving up nine goals and expect to go anywhere. SKOL!
You betcha — Let's Play Hockey. This is Ingie Olsen-Carlson.
Head on over to mornings.live, because Keith and the whole crew are definitely gonna be talking about this one.