Wild lose to Predators in regular season finale; face Colorado in playoffs
The Minnesota Wild will play the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the Western Conference, KSTP reports.
The NHL made the announcement after Colorado won the Central Division on Sunday afternoon, when the St. Louis Blues lost to the Detroit Red Wings, according to the Star Tribune. The Wild-Avalanche series gets underway on Thursday night in Colorado.
The Wild clinched their wildcard playoff spot on April 8 after beating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in a shootout.
Minnesota is 1-3-1 against the Avalanche this season, and this will be the third time the teams will meet in the playoffs.
The Wild entered play Sunday without a regulation loss in their past seven games. That streak came to an ugly end in their final regular-season game as the Nashville Predators beat them 7-3 at Xcel Energy Center.
The Predators scored four second-period goals to overcome a two-goal deficit to win the game.
The Wild's steadiest player in recent weeks -- goalie Ilya Bryzgalov -- had a shaky performance, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Bryzgalov allowed three goals in a two-minute span, and allowed four of five consecutive shots to get past him in the second period before he was pulled for John Curry at the start of the third period. The loss was Bryzgalov's first in regulation in 11 games since the Wild acquired him on March 4.
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Jason Pominville had a first-period goal for Minnesota, his 30th of the season, joining Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston as the only players in franchise history to hit the 30-goal mark.
Here's the first-round playoff schedule:
Thursday 4/17, 8:30 p.m. CDT at Colorado
Saturday 4/19, 8:30 p.m. CDT at Colorado
Monday 4/21, 6:00 p.m. CDT HOME
Thursday 4/24, 8:30 p.m. CDT HOME
Saturday 4/26, TBA (if needed) at Colorado
Monday 4/28, TBA (if needed) HOME
Wednesday 4/30, TBA (if needed) at Colorado
