Kelly gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at 11:32. Wild defenseman Jake Middleton turned the puck over in the defensive zone to Jack Drury, who passed to Kelly for a one-timer from the top of the slot.
The Avalanche lead 3-1 in the best-of-7 series and can advance to the Western Conference Final with another win in Game 5 at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Martin Necas had two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves in his first start this postseason for Colorado, the No. 1 seed out of the Central Division.
Danila Yurov and Nico Sturm each scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 29 saves for the Wild, the No. 3 seed out of the Central.
Yurov put the Wild on the board 1-0 with his first career playoff goal at 9:46 of the first period. He got the tip on Brock Faber's one-timer from the point in the second half of Minnesota's four-minute power play that occurred because of Colorado defenseman Josh Manson's double minor for butt-ending Michael McCarron.
Nazem Kadri tied it at 1-1 for Colorado with a power-play goal at 6:08 of the second period. Kadri’s first attempt was saved by Wallstedt, but the forward got his own rebound and scored seven seconds into the Avalanche’s power play.
Ross Colton scored at 6:56 of the third period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. The forward, who was wide open on Wallstedt’s stick side, took the pass from Nicolas Roy and put a wrist shot past Wallstedt.
Sturm tied it 2-2 at 9:15 of the third period. Quinn Hughes’ backhand pass found Sturm skating toward the net and the forward scored on a tough angle snap shot on Blackwood’s blocker side.
Nathan MacKinnon put one into the empty net to make it 4-2 at 19:27, and Brock Nelson scored an empty-net goal for the 5-2 final at 19:52.
