Colorado erase a three-goal hole and beat Wild in overtime to reach West Final

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime on a Brett Kulak goal to advance to the Western Conference Final. Per ESPN, the home side overturned a 3-0 deficit it had been carrying since the middle of the second period.

The first two periods belonged to Minnesota's physical edge. The Wild built quick attacks off the opening face-off and produced a steady run of shots through the centre line. When the score reached 3-0 midway through the second, a short hush settled over Ball Arena; in a series where every result had gone to overtime, the night was suddenly drifting in an unexpected direction.

Colorado moved its game upwards in the last six minutes of the second period. A heavier forecheck, paired with sharper neutral-zone acceleration, forced Minnesota's goaltender into repeated saves. The hosts pulled one back just before the period ended, in a sequence that included an early goalie-pull rehearsal.

The third period took shape as one of the season's most relentless 20-minute runs. Colorado pulled within one on a power-play strike, then drew level inside the final three minutes after a goalmouth scramble. Regulation ended 3-3.

Overtime opened on a one-two attack. Kulak's slapshot from inside the blue line found its way through traffic and into the side of the net.

ESPN credited the comeback not to a single hero, but to four lines that all sustained pressure. Even Colorado players with the shortest ice time on the night spent extended shifts carrying the puck in the attacking zone.

Minnesota said it would review how the offence that produced three goals in the first half of the night collapsed in the third period. The Wild pointed not to a defensive lapse, but to a few unclear line changes that proved costly.

Colorado's next opponent will come out of the other Western semifinal. The Avalanche group has been one of the league's deeper-running teams in recent springs, and reaching this round confirms that pattern.

In the home dressing room, one of the season's most memorable performances was the topic. Speaking to ESPN, the head coach praised how disciplined his team had stayed even at two goals down.

In the Western Conference Final, Colorado will meet a team that has carried the spring's fatigue across the country. The lesson of an evening turned from 0-3 to 4-3 will be the strongest card the Avalanche carry into the next series.