3 Things to Watch: Wild at Avalanche, Game 5 of Western 2nd Round

(3C) Minnesota Wild at (1C) Colorado Avalanche

Western Conference Second Round, Game 5

Colorado leads best-of-7 series 3-1

8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC

DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche can do something they haven't done in 18 years when they play the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

It was 2008 when the Avalanche last closed out a series at home in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They have won nine series since then, with each coming away from home.

"People always talk about it's the hardest one to win and it is because you're going to play a desperate team that is not ready to go home, that doesn't want to go home," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "But I think for us, if we can repeat our effort from last game and come out with the same sense of urgency, same attention to detail, just kind of relentless pressure, I'd like to see more of that from us."

Colorado is 4-0 at home in the postseason this year, including wins against the Wild in Games 1 (9-6) and 2 (5-2). 

The Avalanche split Games 3 and 4 on the road, but they're coming off a 5-2 win Monday, when they had five different goal scorers, including Ross Colton and Parker Kelly each getting their first of the postseason.

Colorado has 15 players with at least one goal against the Wild, matching the 1985 Chicago Blackhawks for most through the first four games of a series in NHL postseason history. 

"It's up to the rest of us, when our number is called, we've got to be ready to go," Colton said. "(Monday) night in particular I think we just did a good job, we stuck with it and we got rewarded. We were doing the right things that even if we weren't getting on the scoresheet, we were creating chances, we had good O-zone shifts. But I do believe when other guys chip in, it definitely fuels the group."

The Wild are facing elimination for the first time in the postseason, but feel as though they put themselves in this position by the way they played in Game 4 by being turnover-prone and, simply put, not competitive enough to beat a determined Avalanche team.

They're instead looking for a repeat of Game 3, when they played their best game of the series and won 5-1.

"We know that our best is good enough," Wild forward Michael McCarron said. "We're super excited to bounce back. This group, ever since I've been here, after a tough game, we've always been able to bounce back. We're excited to do that tonight."

The Wild will again have to play without center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin, who each remains out with a lower-body injury.

The Avalanche have won seven of their first eight games in the playoffs for the third time in history. They won the Stanley Cup the other two times they started 7-1 (2001 and 2022).

"It's up to us to be the more desperate team," Colton said. "We come home, we have got great fans. I feel like it's tough to come to altitude to play. So, use that to our advantage and just dictate the pace of play. The first 5-10 minutes, don't get settled into it, let's bring it to them."

Here are three things to watch in Game 5:

1. Ice time for Hughes, Faber

Quinn Hughes played 34:13 across 29 shifts in Game 4. Faber, Hughes' defense partner, played 29:19 across 32 shifts. The next closest Minnesota defenseman in ice time was Jared Spurgeon at 16:37, followed by Daemon Hunt (13:17), Jake Middleton's (12:43) and Zach Bogosian (9:26).

That Hughes and Faber play so much speaks volumes for how important they are to the Wild. They played that much and they were not Minnesota's problem in Game 4.

But their ice time, especially when measured against the other defensemen, is an indictment on the play of and the trust in Spurgeon, Hunt, Middleton and Bogosian, which only further shows how much the Wild miss Brodin, who is arguably their best defender on the back end.

Spurgeon and Hunt were a combined minus-35 in even strength shot attempts differential. 

So short of a blowout win, expect Hughes and Faber to play in the neighborhood of 30 or more minutes again, probably at least 12-13 minutes more than any other defensemen. 

2. Colorado's pressure, forecheck

The Avalanche were aggressive on the forecheck in Game 4 and it made a big difference. Kelly's game-winning goal came off two forecheck-induced turnovers.

Staying on their toes, getting pucks behind the Wild and forechecking hard will again be a big part of Colorado's game plan, especially against Hughes and Faber.

"You hear guys talking about it all the time, how important it is to get a piece of the other team's players every single shift and every opportunity you can," Landeskog said. "So, of course, the more important it is when they're playing 30-plus minutes. They're also world-class players, not easy to forecheck either. Super elusive. Really good going back for pucks. That's one of their strengths and you can rope Spurgeon into that as well. But for us continuing to get pucks behind them, taking care of the puck through the neutral zone, is always going to be a key." 

3. Be Bold

To say Matt Boldy has struggled against the Avalanche would be an understatement.

The Wild forward has been limited to one empty-net goal in Game 3 and one assist on a late third-period goal in Game 1. He has been on the ice for eight goals against.

Boldy's struggles were most evident in Game 4, when he was a minus-14 in even strength shot attempt differential (22-8), a problem his linemates, Danila Yurov (minus-21) and Marcus Johansson (minus-17), did not help him solve.

Boldy is one of the Wild's best forwards and arguably their most important because he touches all aspects of the game; 5-on-5, power play, penalty kill, 6-on-5 and 5-on-6. He led them with six goals in six games in the first round against the Dallas Stars. 

The Wild need Boldy to have a big Game 5.

"When he's a beast on the puck, it's a different game," Wild coach John Hynes said. "When he's on pucks and he's over pucks and he's controlling it and playing with that competitive edge, that's when his skill comes out, that's when he has the ability to be a dominant player."

Wild projected lineup

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson -- Danila Yurov -- Matt Boldy

Vladimir Tarasenko -- Michael McCarron -- Yakov Trenin

Marcus Foligno -- Nico Sturm -- Nick Foligno

Quinn Hughes -- Brock Faber

Daemon Hunt -- Jared Spurgeon

Jake Middleton -- Zach Bogosian

Jesper Wallstedt

Filip Gustavsson

Scratched: Robby Fabbri, Hunter Haight, Matt Kiersted, Bobby Brink, Calvin Petersen, Jeff Petry

Injured: Jonas Brodin (lower body), Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body)

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Ross Colton -- Brock Nelson -- Nicolas Roy

Logan O'Connor -- Nazem Kadri -- Valeri Nichushkin

Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Brett Kulak -- Brent Burns

Jack Ahcan -- Josh Manson

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Zakhar Bardakov, Isak Posch, Nick Blankenburg

Injured: Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Sam Malinski (upper body)

Status report

Each team held an optional morning skate. … Hynes said he had one injury-related lineup decision to make, but it won't come until game time. … Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Malinski, a defenseman, and Lehkonen, a forward, are each day to day, though each is "possibly" an option in Game 5.