DENVER (AP) 鈥� Kirill Kaprizov arrived in the banquet room Monday for media availability wearing a pair of hotel slippers.
The Minnesota forward’s attitude about the series, even after a wild in Game 1, proved just as chill as his footwear choice.
“We need better,鈥� Kaprizov said. 鈥淲e know this.鈥�
Precisely what changes, if any, might be in store for the Wild before Game 2 on Tuesday night will be revealed in due time. Wild coach John Hynes is still weighing lineup decisions, including who might be in net.
Jesper Wallstedt had a rough evening, surrendering eight goals, in a crazy game fell behind 3-0 early and rallied to take the lead before letting it slip away. scored their most playoff goals in team history.
鈥淚 think last night was a bit of an anomaly,鈥� Hynes said. “I鈥檓 not worried about Wally. He鈥檚 got a great track record. He鈥檚 played really well. He has playoff experience and he has positive playoff experience.
鈥淓veryone has to reboot. We all have to be better and we鈥檙e planning on doing that (Tuesday).鈥�
Immediately after the game, Wallstedt was turning the page.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 done. There鈥檚 nothing we can do about that,鈥� said Wallstedt, who allowed a total of 14 goals in six games during a first-round series win over Dallas. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 just about analyzing, looking through that one and then let it go. … Focus on the next one.鈥�
His teammates deflected the blame.
鈥淐lean up some stuff and be better for Wally,鈥� forward Mats Zuccarello said after the loss. 鈥淲e gave them too many easy chances and hopefully it鈥檚 a one-off for us because we haven鈥檛 really played like that as of late.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if it is (8-0) or (1-0) or whatever. It鈥檚 Game 1, they鈥檙e up and we have to be better as a team defensively.鈥�
Waiting in the wings for the Wild is Filip Gustavsson, who went 28-15-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average this season. He hasn鈥檛 played since allowing five goals at St. Louis on April 13.
The Wild remain without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin due to lower-body injuries. They are expected to be reevaluated before Game 3.
Hynes referred to Sunday’s goal-fest as 鈥渉elter-skelter,鈥� with 14 different players scoring. Colorado defenseman Cale Makar, who returned from a first-period injury to score twice in the third period, labeled the high-scoring contest a 鈥渙ne-off,鈥� given that both teams were among the top defensive units in the regular season.
鈥淚t was a very, very unique game, the way pucks were going in the net,鈥� Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak said of the 10th playoff game in NHL history to feature 15 or more goals. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e just got to laugh a little bit now 鈥� we鈥檙e able to anyways 鈥� that we came out on the right side of it.鈥�
For Minnesota, it’s all about finding a way to slow the speed of Nathan MacKinnon & Co.
鈥淵ou have to try to stop giving them easy offense,鈥� Wild forward Vladimir Tarasenko said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a game plan, which will be provided to us.鈥�
Any sneak peeks?
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I want to talk about it right now,鈥� Tarasenko said. 鈥淚f we try to play as a unit of five, help each other, everything is possible.鈥�
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