How Avalanche beat Wild in absurd 9-6 NHL playoff game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It was an avalanche.

That’s the best, and most punny, way to describe exactly what the Colorado Avalanche did against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal NHL playoff series that ended with a 9-6 score in favor of Colorado.

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Yeah, it was as wild as it sounds.

In the early stages, it looked like the top-seeded Avalanche might just storm away with it. They scored three goals in 121 seconds to take a 3-0 lead midway through the first period.

But then the Wild answered back with two goals in 62 seconds, only a few minutes later, to pull within 3-2.

The Avalanche made it 4-2 four minutes into the second period.

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Then the Wild had a storm of their own, three goals across 10 minutes — Vladimir Tarasenko, Quinn Hughes and Marcus Foligno — to take a 5-4 lead late in the second.

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Before it got to the intermission, though, Devon Toews scored to make it 5-5 after two.

The highest-scoring game of this postseason so far had featured 11 goals. This one would need at least 11 goals to have a winner.

In the end, they got to 15.

Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri scored within the first six minutes of the third period to make it 7-5 Colorado.

Mats Zuccarello nabbed the final Minnesota tally with four minutes to play to pull within 7-6.

But then Makar scored a minute later, and Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-netter, and that was that.

In one crazy statistical way, it was historic:

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It also sets up for what could be an absolutely crazy series.

Maybe the best news of all for Colorado was that Makar left with an injury scare but eventually returned and looked like his usual self.

They’ll need him, and everyone else, to hold off the Wild going forward. These teams have some serious firepower.

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