Kaprizov scored on the power play to tie it 1-1 at 4:17 of the third period. His pass to Matt Boldy in the high slot deflected off the stick of Brent Burns and went far side past the right foot of Wedgewood.
“You want to be able to close games down when you have the lead, but I think we played well,” Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek said. “A lot of special teams, but other than that, I think as the game went on, I think we got better and better.”
Sturm’s short-handed goal gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 7:01. He skated in on a breakaway and beat Wedgewood blocker side with a wrist shot as he cut into the slot. The play came 28 seconds after Wallstedt made a cross-crease leg save on a Martin Necas slap shot.
“I saw the hard rim, and I saw it coming around the boards, and after it came around the boards, it was still like kind of knee high, and I saw the D-man standing there,” Sturm said. “I was like, there’s no way he’s going to be able to control that puck, and even if he does, it’s going to be kind of bobbled. So I’m going to pressure him. It kind of went right through him, and then, obviously, I’m on a breakaway.”
Roy then tied it 2-2 at 12:39 when he deflected Brett Kulak’s point shot top shelf from the top of the crease.
“Obviously, at that point, we needed a goal. So just trying to switch the mindset a little bit, try to attack a little more,” said Roy, who was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. “It was good to get one there. Good timing.”
NOTES: Necas skated in his 500th NHL game. … MacKinnon improved to 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) in 55 games against the Wild and became the third player with 70-plus points versus the franchise, joining Jarome Iginla (39 goals, 33 assists in 84 games) and Henrik Sedin (13 goals, 57 assists in 86 games). … Kadri recorded his first point in an Avalanche uniform since Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final when he scored in overtime to give Colorado a 3-2 win against Tampa Bay before winning the series in six games. … Sturm scored his fifth career short-handed goal, which tied Tobias Rieder for the fifth-most by a Germany-born player behind Marco Sturm (18), Jochen Hecht (10), Leon Draisaitl (10) and Tim Stutzle (six).