ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jesper Wallstedt, back in net as the starter after being benched for Game 2, made 34 saves as the Minnesota Wild handled the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Wild, who allowed 14 goals in the first two games with Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson starting one contest each in net, now trail the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Monday night at Grand Casino Arena.
In front of Wallstedt, Kirill Kaprizov scored first and assisted on the next two goals as the Wild forced Colorado into a goalie change and handed the Avalanche their first loss in this postseason.
Quinn Hughes followed Kaprizov's 4-on-4 score late in the first period with a 4-on-3 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 goaltender 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 to conclude the scoring.
The Avalanche faced their first multigoal deficit of this postseason after they had 12 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 postseason record with six consecutive victories, made nine saves. Blackwood had 12.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
