Wild win Game 7 in OT, will face Hawks
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild.Nino Niederreiter helped the Minnesota Wild snap an 11-year drought and earn another crack at the Chicago Blackhawks.
Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game 5:02 into overtime Wednesday night to give the Wild a 5-4 come-from-behind victory against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round series.
The Wild won their first series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2003. They made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2008, but lost in five games to the Blackhawks, who won the Stanley Cup.
The Wild came back from four one-goal deficits before Niederreiter scored the overtime winner off a 2-on-1 with Kyle Brodziak. The home teams had won the first six games of the series, but the Avalanche, who won the Central Division with 112 points, couldn't take advantage of home ice in Game 7.
Dany Heatley sprung Brodziak and Niederreiter for the 2-on-1. Niederreiter's hard shot from the right circle beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, who made 30 saves.
Defenseman Erik Johnson's goal 11:16 into the third period gave the Avalanche a 4-3 lead, but they couldn't hold it. Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon scored from the left circle at 17:33, tying the game at 4-4.
Spurgeon's goal came less than six minutes after Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper left with an apparent injury and had to be replaced by Ilya Bryzgalov. Kuemper allowed four goals on 21 shots. Bryzgalov didn't face a shot in regulation after coming into the game with 8:13 remaining, and stopped the only one he saw in OT.
The Wild and Avalanche combined for four goals in the third period.
Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with a wrist shot from inside the blue Stanley Cup Playoffs logo. Kuemper made a save on PA Parenteau, who split the Minnesota defense and went in alone. Colorado center Matt Duchene's shot off the rebound was blocked, but Parenteau found the puck in the right circle and fed Johnson for a wrist shot that beat Kuemper.
The Wild got it back when Spurgeon wired a wrist shot into the top left corner from the right circle. He waited for Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon to slide through and out of his shooting lane before firing the shot past Varlamov.
Avalanche center Paul Stastny gave Colorado a 3-2 lead at 2:55 of the third period when his one-timer from between the circles off a behind-the-net pass from Parenteau beat Kuemper high over his blocker.
However, Niederreiter tied the game less than four minutes later with a hard shot off the rush from the circle.
The Avalanche and Wild traded goals through the first two periods to enter the third period tied 2-2. Defenseman Nick Holden and forward Jamie McGinn scored for Colorado; forwards Mikko Koivu and Heatley each scored their first goal of the series for Minnesota.
Holden gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 2:52 into the game. There was some controversy attached to this goal before the NHL Hockey Operations Department cleared it up.
McGinn appeared to bump into Kuemper as Holden's shot was redirected into the net by Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin. Referee Wes McCauley immediately waved his arms after the puck crossed the goal line, but it wasn't to wave off the goal because of goalie interference.
According to Hockey Operations, McCauley waved his arms "as a reaction to a potential infraction for high-sticking the puck. The on-ice officials then huddled regarding the play to discuss if it was a good hockey goal, and agreed the goal would stand."
The Wild tied the game 5:12 later when Koivu scored on a one-timer from the left circle that went under Varlamov's glove.
Koivu picked off Colorado defenseman Jan Hejda's clearing attempt at the blue line and the Wild got the puck in deep. Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle chased down the puck behind the net, beating Hejda and Johnson to it, before finding Koivu in the left circle for the one-timer.
The Wild pressured after Koivu's goal, jamming the Avalanche back into their zone. Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter was inches away from making it 2-1, but his shot off a faceoff win rang off the crossbar with 7:50 remaining in the first period.
As soon as the Wild let their guard down, McGinn and Colorado rookie Joey Hishon burned the them to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead with 6:22 left in the first period.
Hishon, who made his NHL debut in Game 4 of the series, set up McGinn for a redirection goal from the high slot for his first point in a NHL game. McGinn's redirection went through Wild defenseman Nate Prosser's legs before clearing through Kuemper's five-hole as well.
Heatley tied the game with his first goal of the series at 7:27 of the second period. It came two seconds after the Wild's second power play opportunity of the second period had expired. However, it was the power-play setup that gave the Wild a chance to tie the game.
Minnesota settled the puck in the zone and started working it around with approximately 10 seconds left on Hishon's high-sticking minor. As Hishon was coming out of the box, Mikael Granlund's shot from the left circle pinballed and Heatley got his stick on it to sweep it into the net.
Colorado had an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal at 6:50 of the first period, but the Wild took 19 of the next 21 shots on goal in the game over a 25-minute stretch. Minnesota had a 20-14 advantage in shots on goal after the second period, a 30-21 advantage after regulation and outshot Colorado 5-1 in overtime.
-- by Dan Rosen for NHL.com --
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01/05/2014 - 07:00
