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| Minnesota Wild |
Minnesota Wild Tickets - The Minnesota Wild gave Zach Parise all that money for games like this. Parise signed that megadeal two years ago for games even bigger than this.
Parise scored early and late on tipped shots, and the Wild tacked on two empty-net goals for a 5-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night that sent the first-round playoff series to a decisive Game 7.
Ah, Game 7. "We didn't sign here to win a first-round game. The Wild were in trouble at the second intermission after what Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said might have been his team's best period of the whole series.
Nick Holden got the tying goal in the second period to stop the power-play skid for the Avalanche, who had been denied by a resurgent Wild penalty-kill unit in 19 of 20 previous opportunities in the series. So Wild coach Mike Yeo gave his team a spark by reuniting Parise on the first line with center Mikko Koivu, who had two assists.
Roy pulled Varlamov with 2:44 remaining, and this time the daring move backfired after it led to tying goals for the Avalanche in Games 1 and 5. Matt Duchene returned to the Avalanche lineup and notched an assist in extensive time on the power play, after missing the last month due to a left knee injury. The Avalanche's leader with 70 points during the regular season, Duchene wasn't cleared for action until minutes before faceoff.
Notes
The Wild went 18-4-2 when Parise scored a goal in the regular season.
