3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 5-2 Loss to the Avalanche in Game 2

The Minnesota Wild faced the Colorado Avalanche on the road for Game 2 on Tuesday evening, May 5. The first game was a back-and-forth goal-scoring affair that ended with the Avalanche taking the win 9-6. They remained without Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek, but they also added Zach Bogosian, who missed Game 2 due to a lower-body injury, which meant Jeff Petry was paired with Daemon Hunt. 

Filip Gustavsson was in the net after Jesper Wallstedt played in the previous seven games. The game started out quickly in favor of the Avalanche, but the Wild responded with a goal from Kirill Kaprizov to tie it 1-1. The Avalanche stole the lead back later in the period and extended it in the second. The Avalanche continued to build on their lead and took the win 5-2. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with the Wild’s goaltending.

Wild’s Goaltending Situation 

It was a rough transition for Filip Gustavsson as he started Game 2 after not playing since Apr. 13, which was a loss to the St. Louis Blues. The first goal of the game was almost evenly half on his shoulders and half on his defense. Gustavsson was trying to follow the shooter, who was going one way, but backhanded the puck the other way, and his defense was fooled. Kirill Kaprizov tried to respond with a goal of his own, but it didn’t last.

The Avalanche got one past Gustavsson on the power play; the goal was a combination of him not quite getting there in time and the defense leaving the player wide open. The third goal of the game and then the fourth goal, which was the Avalanche’s second on the power play, were both goals Gustavsson would probably want back, one on the blocker side and the other on the glove. However, the Avalanche’s second goal on the power play was also a shot by Nathan MacKinnon, which is extremely difficult for any goaltender to stop. 

It was expected that Gustavsson might be a bit rusty coming back into the net after three weeks, but it’s safe to say he struggled a bit more than expected. He did have some very strong moments later in the game that gave his team a chance and looked to find his game. It’ll be interesting to see what the Wild do as they head back home for Game 3, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them go back to Jesper Wallstedt and see if he can bounce back. 

Wild’s Special Teams Again 

It’s been a storyline since before the postseason started, it was through the series against the Stars, and it’s once again a storyline against the Avalanche. The Wild had two chances on the man advantage and couldn’t convert on either, while they gave the Avalanche five opportunities, and they allowed them to score on two. They had three strong penalty kills outside of those goals, but it wasn’t enough.