Kaprizov gets Wild going in 5-1 win to hand the Avs their first playoff loss

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored first and assisted on the next two goals as the Minnesota Wild forced a goalie change and handed the Colorado Avalanche their first loss in this post-season with a 5-1 victory in Game 3 of their second-round NHL playoff series on Saturday night.

Quinn Hughes followed Kaprizov’s four-on-four score late in the first period with a four-on-three goal less than two minutes later. Ryan Hartman batted in a deflected power-play shot with 4:23 elapsed in the second period to prompt an early departure for Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood, who was replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood.

Nathan MacKinnon got the Avalanche on the board on a power play later in the second period before Brock Faber answered just 20 seconds later by deflecting a puck past Blackwood.

Matt Boldy added an empty-net goal and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves in his return to the net for the Wild after a 9-6 loss in the unhinged series opener prompted a start for Filip Gustavsson in Game 2.

The Avalanche will take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 in Minnesota on Monday, before the teams return to Colorado for Game 5 on Wednesday.

The Avalanche faced their first multigoal deficit of this post-season after they had 12 different players score over the first two games of this series, an NHL record.

Faber had two assists and has nine points in nine playoff games. Mats Zuccarello, who took the shot that Faber tipped past Blackwood, also had two assists and has 10 points in seven playoff games.

Wedgewood, who led the NHL in save percentage and goals against average during the regular season and had matched the franchise post-season record with six consecutive victories, made nine saves. Blackwood had 12.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Dave Campbell, The Associated Press