National Hockey League
Minnesota 4, Colorado 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, April 29, 2022
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Jon McIsaac, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Bevan Mills
Attendance: 19261

Jordan Greenway scored two goals, Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday night.

Tyson Jost also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury had 27 saves for Minnesota (53-22-7, 113 points), which set a franchise record for points and victories in a season.

With the win, the Wild finished second in the Central Division and will have home-ice advantage against St. Louis in their first-round series. The Blues won all three games between the teams this season, with the final two coming in overtime.

Nazem Kadri had a goal and Pavel Francouz stopped 18 shots for the Avalanche (56-19-7, 119 points), who finished the season 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Colorado locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference on April 17 but its overtime loss to Nashville on Thursday night ended its bid for the Presidents' Trophy. The Avalanche rested many of their regulars Friday night, including Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Valeri Nichushkin and goaltender Darcy Kuemper.

Minnesota jumped ahead quickly Friday night when Greenway's shot from the left circle beat Francouz just inside the goal post 58 seconds into the game.

Jost made it 2-0 against his former team when he scored his eighth goal of the season at 4:12 of the first period.

Kaprizov put the Wild ahead 3-0 when his backhander trickled through Francouz and to the goal line before the goaltender knocked it out of the crease. Kaprizov quickly tapped it in at 3:46 for his team-leading 47th goal of the season.

Kadri got one back less than two minutes later off a Minnesota turnover. Mikko Rantanen stole the puck in the Wild end and sent a pass across the zone to Kadri. His shot went through Fleury and in at 5:38 for his 28th goal of the season.

Francouz came off for an extra skater and Greenway scored an empty-net goal at 19:28 of the third period for his 10th goal of the season.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Minnesota
Nazem Kadri 1 Points Jordan Greenway 2
Nazem Kadri 1 Goals Jordan Greenway 2
Mikko Rantanen 1 Assists Kirill Kaprizov 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Pavel Francouz .857 Save Percentage Marc-Andre Fleury .964
Pavel Francouz 18 Saves Marc-Andre Fleury 27
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Colorado 28 1 0-4 5-5 32 22
Minnesota 22 4 0-5 4-4 27 29
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Wild have a W/L % of .686 after a win and .567 after a loss.
  • Colorado will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .702 after a win and .640 after a loss.