Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 26: Avalanche eliminate Wild in overtime, advance to Western Conference Final

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop action as we witness 16 teams get whittled down to the one that will be crowned as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop on everything that happens in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

The only game on Wednesday night saw the thrilling conclusion of the Central Division Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. The Wild, facing elimination, jumped on the Avalanche early. However, the Presidents’ Trophy winners rallied back, using an overtime winner from Brett Kulak to send the Avs to a 4-3 victory and a berth in the Western Conference Final.

Down 3-1 heading into Game 5, the Wild knew their backs were up against the wall, and they came out guns-a-blazing. Just 34 seconds into the game, a slick pass from Matt Boldy was hammered home by Marcus Johansson, his fourth of the playoffs, putting Minnesota out in front.

The Avalanche found a little bit of offensive pressure as the first period carried on, but it didn’t help them catch up, as Nick Foligno tipped in a pass from Nico Sturm just a little past the halfway mark of the frame, his first of the postseason, to put Minnesota up by a pair. It looked like the Wild made it 3-0 just a couple of minutes later, as Michael McCarron knocked the puck past Avs goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. However, after a video review, it was determined that the puck was deflected in illegally, so it remained a two-goal game.

That was until a couple of minutes later, when Sturm found a juicy rebound, made a great play to set up Foligno for his second of the game, giving the Wild a healthy cushion heading into the first intermission.

It was just the second multi-goal playoff game of his tenured NHL career.

That was enough for Colorado head coach Jared Bednar to make a change, pulling Blackwood for Scott Wedgewood as the second period got underway. The Avalanche came out with a lot of jump in the middle frame, putting plenty of pressure on Minnesota. It took them longer than the fans inside Ball Arena would’ve liked, but Colorado finally solved Jesper Wallstedt just a little past the halfway mark of the contest, as Parker Kelly scored his second goal in as many games, deflecting a Brent Burns point shot, to cut into the deficit.

However, the Avalanche were not able to build any momentum from that for the longest time. They mustered up just nine shots on goal for well over a period-worth of time. Yet, in crunch time, Colorado turned things on. With less than four minutes to go in regulation, Jack Drury potted his second goal of the playoffs to make it a one-goal game. Then, a little over two minutes later, with the extra attacker on, Nathan MacKinnon ripped a shot over the shoulder of Wallstedt to tie things up, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Colorado smelled blood. They went after the Wild and never let up. After exceptional hustle, Martin Necas teed up Kulak for the game-winner, sending the Avalanche to the conference finals for the first time in four years.

It was Kulak’s first goal since January, when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Colorado ended up outshooting Minnesota 34-20 in the game. Wedgewood needed to make just seven saves in relief. Wallstedt was credited with 30 stops in the loss.

Wednesday night was just the fifth time since the Avs won the Stanley Cup in 2022 that the team has had a chance to eliminate an opponent. With the loss to the Wild, Colorado is now 3-2 against a team on the brink of elimination in the past four postseasons. For Minnesota, it marked the team’s fourth consecutive defeat when facing elimination.

While the Avalanche are continuing their quest toward the final, the Wild are left empty-handed. A team that went all-in this season, trading for Quinn Hughes, is left wondering what went wrong, packing their bags a little earlier than expected.

The Avalanche now wait to see who they will face in the West Final. The Vegas Golden Knights have a chance to eliminate the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division Final on Thursday.