Makar had left the game early in the first period after taking a hit along the end boards from Wild forward Marcus Foligno before returning for the second.
Devon Toews had a goal and three assists, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, and Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division and Western Conference. Martin Necas had three assists, and Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves.
Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Tarasenko and Foligno scored for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed from the Central. Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Malinski gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 11:12 of the first period when he roofed a wrist shot from the right circle short side over Wallstedt's left shoulder.
Jack Drury extended it to 2-0 just a short time later at 12:04. Wild defenseman Jake Middleton whiffed on a clearing attempt in the right corner, and Logan O’Connor retrieved the puck and sent a backhand feed to Drury, who put a shot off the far post from the bottom of the right circle.
Lehkonen made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 13:13. MacKinnon's initial shot was stopped by Wallstedt, but he got his own rebound, drew the goaltender out of position and then passed back to Lehkonen, who scored through the legs of Jared Spurgeon into an open net from the left circle.
Johansson cut it to 3-1 at 15:02. He intercepted Nicolas Roy’s clearing attempt in the slot before scoring with a turnaround shot through traffic.
Hartman made it to 3-2 at 16:04 when he tapped in a backhand centering pass from Hughes.
Nick Blankenburg pushed it to 4-2 at 4:16 of the second period, taking a saucer pass from Valeri Nichushkin and shooting under Wallstedt's glove on a 2-on-1 rush.
Tarasenko cut it to 4-3 at 6:45. He got behind Blankenburg on a rush, took a backhand pass from Yakov Trenin, and moved the puck to his backhand before tucking it in past Wedgewood's left pad.
Hughes tied it 4-4 at 12:43 with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat a screened Wedgewood glove side off the stick of Nazem Kadri.
Foligno then scored a short-handed goal to put the Wild ahead 5-4 at 16:55. MacKinnon missed a drop pass from Gabriel Landeskog at the blue line, and Foligno chased it down before finishing a backhand deke at the right post on a breakaway.
Toews quickly tied it 5-5 at 18:04 with a wrist shot from the high slot broke the stick of Michael McCarron and bounced past the right toe of Wallstedt shortly after a power play expired.
Makar gave the Avalanche the lead back, 6-5, at 3:21 of the third period. Following a face-off win by Landeskog, Makar buried a shot from the right circle that went in off the far post.
Kadri extended it to 7-5 at 5:43, beating Wallstedt under his glove from the right circle on a partial breakaway after being sprung by Ross Colton.
Zuccarello got the Wild to within 7-6 at 16:01. Matt Boldy sent a backhand pass toward the low slot, where it bounced off the knee of Zuccarello and over the glove of Wedgewood.
Makar scored his second of the period to make it 8-6 at 17:06, and MacKinnon scored into the empty net at 17:52 for the 9-6 final.
