{"id":575932,"date":"2026-05-16T00:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/575932\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:09:14","slug":"the-avalanche-just-sent-a-terrifying-message-to-the-rest-of-the-nhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/575932\/","title":{"rendered":"The Avalanche Just Sent A Terrifying Message To The Rest Of The NHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2014\u00a0One wave after another kept coming at the Minnesota Wild<\/a>, and by the time the Avalanche<\/a> delivered the final blow in overtime, Colorado<\/a> had proven something larger than just winning a playoff series: this team can hurt opponents from virtually everywhere.<\/p>\n

The easy story would\u2019ve been to make this series about Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> doing Nathan MacKinnon things.<\/p>\n

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And sure, he delivered. Again.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche superstar finished the second-round series with nine points, extending his goal streak to six games and burying the dramatic extra-attacker equalizer late in Game 5 that ultimately sent Ball Arena into complete ecstasy.<\/p>\n

But reducing Colorado\u2019s five-game elimination of the Minnesota Wild to MacKinnon alone misses the real story entirely.<\/p>\n

This series was about pressure. Relentless, layered, exhausting pressure.<\/p>\n

Every line brought something different. Every pairing found a moment. Every role player looked dangerous. This was a complete team effort.<\/p>\n

By the end of the series, Colorado had 16 different goal scorers and 18 skaters record at least one point. Eleven different players produced multi-point games.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s hard to beat,\u201d Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cWhen you have different guys stepping up every night, you can\u2019t key on one guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that was exactly the problem Minnesota never fully solved.<\/p>\n

One night it was the stars overwhelming them with speed through the neutral zone. Another night it was Colorado\u2019s third and fourth lines grinding the Wild into mistakes below the goal line. Even in Game 5 \u2014 a game Minnesota appeared ready to steal after jumping out to a stunning 3-0 lead \u2014 it was depth players like Parker Kelly<\/a> and Jack Drury<\/a> dragging the Avalanche back into the fight before MacKinnon delivered the equalizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been an amazing line all season for us,\u201d MacKinnon said of Kelly, Drury, and Joel Kiviranta<\/a>. \u201cIt just shows you need literally everybody to win a series in this League.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That sentence probably summarized Colorado\u2019s second round better than anything else.<\/p>\n

Because while the Wild had moments where they successfully slowed Colorado\u2019s elite talent, they never consistently survived the waves behind them.<\/p>\n

This was not a clean series.<\/p>\n

It was violent, emotional, fast, chaotic and, at times, completely unhinged.<\/p>\n

Game 1 alone turned into a track meet, with Colorado hanging nine goals on Minnesota in a playoff game that felt more like a street fight than structured postseason hockey.<\/p>\n

But even as the series evolved and tightened defensively, the Avalanche never stopped generating offense from different areas of the lineup.<\/p>\n

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Colorado finished the series with 24 goals in five games and converted at a blistering 38.5 percent on the power play. More importantly, the Avalanche controlled five-on-five play, outscoring Minnesota 14-11 at even strength.<\/p>\n

That balance mattered.<\/p>\n

A lot.<\/p>\n

Because the Wild actually did several things reasonably well throughout stretches of the series. They blocked shots. They played physically. Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> still created dangerous moments whenever space opened up. Nick Foligno<\/a> delivered arguably his best hockey of the postseason.<\/p>\n

For long stretches of Game 5, Minnesota looked fully capable of forcing the series back home.<\/p>\n

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Then Colorado\u2019s depth overwhelmed them again. Like a seasoned heavyweight slowly dismantling an overmatched challenger, the Avalanche absorbed Minnesota\u2019s early surge before methodically wearing the Wild down shift after shift. Only this wasn\u2019t done with body shots \u2014 it came through suffocating speed in transition, relentless puck pursuit, and constant offensive-zone pressure.<\/p>\n

Colorado rolled four lines, activated its defensemen, attacked off retrievals, and trapped Minnesota in exhausting defensive-zone sequences that slowly eroded both the Wild\u2019s structure and confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to be No. 1,\u201d MacKinnon said when asked where the comeback ranked among playoff moments.<\/p>\n

And honestly, it felt that way watching it unfold.<\/p>\n

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Minnesota led 3-0 midway through the first period of Game 5.<\/p>\n

Ball Arena was quiet. The Avalanche looked rattled. Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> was pulled after allowing three goals on 13 shots.<\/p>\n

Everything had tilted toward the Wild.<\/p>\n

And yet Colorado never really looked panicked.<\/p>\n

That was the terrifying part.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche just kept skating.<\/p>\n

Kept attacking.<\/p>\n

Kept forcing plays into dangerous ice.<\/p>\n

The comeback started with Kelly redirecting a point shot in the second period. Drury cut the deficit to one late in the third. Then came MacKinnon\u2019s impossible-angle rocket with the goalie pulled and the season hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n

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By overtime, the building felt inevitable.<\/p>\n

And when Martin Necas<\/a> slid a cross-ice pass onto the tape of Brett Kulak<\/a> for the series-winning one-timer, the image perfectly captured the entire series.<\/p>\n

Not MacKinnon.<\/p>\n

Not Makar.<\/p>\n

Brett Kulak.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s stars mattered because they always matter. But the Avalanche advanced because their supporting cast repeatedly turned games in their favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always like to dream about it,\u201d Kulak said afterward. \u201cFor me, a special goal in my career, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

That goal didn\u2019t just end the series.<\/p>\n

It validated the entire identity Colorado has built all season.<\/p>\n

The scariest part for the rest of the Western Conference might be this:<\/p>\n

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The Avalanche don\u2019t look top-heavy anymore.<\/p>\n

This version of Colorado feels deeper, more mature and significantly harder to scheme against than some previous playoff teams built almost entirely around star power.<\/p>\n

Yes, MacKinnon remains the engine.<\/p>\n

Yes, Cale Makar<\/a> still controls games in ways few defensemen on earth can.<\/p>\n

But this run feels sustainable because the pressure never disappears when those players leave the ice.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Landeskog<\/a> said it perfectly after the series-clinching win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe depth, that\u2019s what\u2019s gonna win you down the stretch here in the playoffs,\u201d Landeskog said.<\/p>\n

Right now, it\u2019s hard to argue otherwise.<\/p>\n

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And after surviving Minnesota\u2019s best punch before storming all the way back in Game 5, the Avalanche suddenly look like a team that believes no deficit is fatal and no game is ever fully out of reach.<\/p>\n

That belief can become dangerous in May.<\/p>\n

Especially when it\u2019s backed by this much depth.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/p>\n

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