The WILD were ready, they played fast and physical from the puck drop.

Of course it's an excuse but I went back and looked, the Avs finished off their 4 game sweep on 4/26, WILD finished the grueling series with Dallas on 4/30, then flew to Denver for game one on 5/3.

That's a tough draw. It was great to have some time off before the 1st home game of the series and the WILD were rested and ready and played well.

Their best players showed up in the box score and they switched up the defense pairs a little, and the Wall stopped that early breakaway when it was still 0-0 which was huge.

Bring the same Energy and focus in game 4 and they can tie up the series.