By: Chris Nosek

Minnesota Wild @ Colorado Avalanche (Round 2, Game 5)
Colorado wins the series 4-1

For some reason, Jared Bednar stuck with MacKenzie Blackwood in goal, and that almost turned out to be a major mistake. He gave up three goals in the first period and relinquished the net to Wedgewood. This was the push that I expected to see from Minnesota. It’s been clear from the beginning of this series that Colorado was the better team by a larger margin than many wanted to admit. Yes, injuries to Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek were factors, but the Avalanche outplayed the Wild all series long, and this game was the culmination of it all.

Last week, I expressed concerns about John Hynes’ decision regarding goaltending. This series, along with locker-room quotes from Hynes himself, raises further concerns about his fit with this team. Hynes also couldn’t get the players to play the way they needed to win or focus on doing so. There was a lot of this sentiment after the loss in Game Four, which Dan Rosen has a great piece on NHL.com about – which you can find HERE. You can also find the concerns I expressed about the goaltending decision HERE. Bill Guerin has a lot of work to do this offseason.

Prediction Entering Matchup: Colorado Avalanche advance in 6 games
Prediction after Game One: Colorado Avalanche advance in 6 games
Prediction after Game Two: Colorado Avalanche advances in 4 games
Prediction after Game Three: Colorado Avalanche advances in 6 games
Prediction after Game Four: Colorado Avalanche advances in 6 games
Result: Colorado Avalanche advance in 5 games