Kelly's First-Career Playoff Goal is the Game Winner as Avalanche Defeats Wild 5-2 in Game Four to Take 3-1 Series Lead

Road Victory

Parker Kelly's first-career Stanley Cup Playoff goal served as the game-winning tally in the Avalanche's 5-2 Game Four win against the Wild as Colorado took a 3-1 series lead on Monday at Grand Casino Arena. Nazem Kadri and Ross Colton both scored for Colorado, Martin Necas posted a pair of assists and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in his first start of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"He was great," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said about Blackwood. "He went in the net did exactly what I was hoping he would do. He had some really strong practices in the last week. He's had some time to prepare. He's in tune with what's going on in the series and he's done his homework. I thought he went in and played a great game for us."

After the game, Gabriel Landeskog said he thought the team played a strong third period. 

"Even when they tied it up, there was a sense of belief that we were just gonna keep rolling and we were gonna get rewarded eventually. [We] trusted our forecheck, kept turning pucks over that way and sustained some pressure and those guys (Colton and Kelly) with great shots."

How It Happened

Minnesota's Danila Yurov opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:46 of the first period via a redirection from the low slot.

Kadri tied the game on the power play at 6:08 of the second period via a shot from the right circle after his first attempt was blocked.

The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead at 6:56 of the third period when Colton scored his first goal of the playoffs via a shot from the left doorstep set up by Nicolas Roy's cross-slot feed.

Minnesota tied the game at 9:15 of the third period when Nico Sturm scored via a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.

Kelly gave Colorado a 3-2 lead at 11:32 of the third period via a one-timer from the high slot assisted by Jack Drury.

Colorado doubled its lead at 19:27 of the third period when MacKinnon scored his sixth goal of the playoffs via an empty-net tally from just outside the Avs' offensive zone.

With his second goal of the playoffs, Nelson gave the Avalanche a 5-2 lead at 19:52 of the third period via an empty-net tally from Colorado's defensive zone.

Next Up

The Avalanche returns to Denver for Game Five of Round Two against the Wild on Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT on TNT, truTV, HBO Max, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM and the Altitude Sports Radio App.