Recap: Avs take 3-1 series lead after hard-earned victory over Minny

The Minnesota Wild welcomed the Colorado Avalanche to Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul, MN, for game four of the second round. A good news, bad news sort of situation emerged at puck drop, as surprisingly both Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen would not play. We also saw the insertion of Jack Ahcan, Josh Manson, and Joel Kiviranta.

This Stanley Cup playoff series was stuck at 2-1 in favor of the Avalanche heading into the night, and a tightly contested showdown would, in the end, result in Parker Kelly’s first career playoff goal and the Avalanche leaving St. Paul with a victory. A mild one 😏 pic.

twitter. com/SDkjS334pD — Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 12, 2026 Nathan MacKinnon was bloodied from an arrant clearing attempt but showed his toughness and returned to put home the empty netter that put this one out of reach. “That’s exactly what we were looking for… we were looking for a response,” Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog said postgame.

Let’s review all of the action from game four! The Game It didn’t take long for the blood between these two rivals to boil over as Josh Manson took a check from Michael McCarron, who dragged Manson down to the ice. In the fall and ensuing scuffle, it appeared Josh Manson hit McCarron in the head with the butt of the stick, inciting a review.