I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen this one before. The Avalanche, in the middle of their 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, took three minor penalties within 53 seconds of each other.

The result was a lengthy 5-on-3, during which one penalty’s clock froze until the other expired. The Avs managed to get through two of them, but the Wild scored on the third one. That put the road team ahead 2-1, and they led the rest of the way.

First, Gabe Landeskog was called for elbowing at 14:15. While the Avalanche were on the PK, Valeri Nichushkin was tabbed for cross-checking at 15:04. Colorado was set to begin a 5-on-3 PK for 1:11. As soon as the puck was dropped, Brent Burns accidentally shot it over the glass from his own end, setting up the lengthy PK mess.

Landeskog exited the box at 16:15. But because the Avs had three penalties all at once, the Burns two-minute penalty clock, which came at 15:08, didn’t start until Landeskog’s ended. When Nichushkin’s penalty finally ended, the Burns penalty still had a lot more than just four seconds remaining, despite that penalty coming four seconds after Nichushkin’s.

By the time Joel Eriksson Ek scored on the PP, the Burns penalty had 39 seconds remaining on it, but he had been in the box for 2:29.

As I said, this one was a first. An interesting, strange sequence that, unfortunately for Colorado, put a damper on an otherwise strong performance that probably would have played out differently if it weren’t for that sequence.

10 Takeaways

1. The most unfortunate part for the PKers was that it was ultimately an own goal that put the Wild up 2-1. The PK was doing well, and Mackenzie Blackwood was bailing them out whenever he had to face a shot. Eriksson Ek had the puck along the goal line and was trying to center it to Kirill Kaprizov in the crease. But before it got to Kaprizov, it hit Cale Makar’s stick and squeaked in under Blackwood’s pad.

2. By the time that sequence had ended, the penalty count was 6-1 in favor of the Wild. Colorado took two minor penalties in the first and four more in the second. All of them came after the Wild were called for hooking just 4:41 into the first period.

3. The Avs also took five minor penalties and went 4-for-5 on the PK against the Utah Mammoth. It’s just too much.

4. Well, it’s worth noting that one of the six penalties they took in the first two periods should not have been called. Makar was given two minutes for slashing because Yakov Trenin’s stick broke when he tried to shoot. Makar did not make contact with Trenin’s stick at all and made sure to let the official know after the fact.

Unfortunately for the Avs, that penalty led to the first Wild goal. The Avs went 4-for-6 on the PK

5. The Avs got two more looks on the PP in the third. The first one was when the score was still 2-1. They had their chance to tie it. They couldn’t. And then Minnesota went down the other way and made it 3-1.

6. Overall, this was an entertaining hockey game. The Avalanche had their legs and were moving the puck well. The top line looked great, specifically Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas. But the Wild matched them shift for shift, it felt like. Even if most of their work was done on the PP.

In a league where shots are hard to come by, each team had 27 through 40 minutes. Blackwood and Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson were both exceptional, and the key reasons why the score hadn’t gotten out of hand for either club.

The final shot count was 47-36 in Colorado’s favor. Blackwood made 31 saves.

7. Joel Kiviranta took a hit along the boards from Zach Bogosian in the second period. His face hit the ice on his way down. Kiviranta got up on one knee and needed a moment to gather himself before skating gingerly back to the bench and right down the tunnel while the play was ongoing.

Head coach Jared Bednar did not yet have an update on his status after the game. The Avs are off on Friday before an early Saturday puck drop at Ball Arena against Chicago.

8. Going back to the entertainment of this game, how about that incredible shot from Necas on his first goal? The Avs’ top line winger has three of the team’s six goals coming out of the break.

9. The crazy penalty sequence began just 45 seconds after Necas’ game-tying goal. The Avalanche barely had time to try to build on that goal before having to play defensive 5-on-3 PK hockey.

10. Blackwood is 3-3-0 in his last six games despite only giving up 10 goals.