Avalanche look to close out Wild

Colorado entered Game 5 of its Western Conference second-round series against Minnesota on Wednesday with a 3-1 lead and the shortest Stanley Cup odds on ESPN's board, tied with Carolina at +160. ESPN's betting page, published May 9, listed the Avalanche and Hurricanes as co-favorites to win the Cup, with Colorado also favored to win the Western Conference at -160. NHL.com’s playoff series page showed how Colorado got there: a 9-6 win in Game 1 on May 3, a 5-2 win in Game 2 on May 5, a 5-1 loss in Game 3 on May 9 and a 5-2 win in Game 4 on May 11. That left the Avalanche one win from the Western Conference final entering Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Parker Kelly’s goal at 11:32 of the third period was the turning point in Game 4, according to NHL.com’s recap from St. (espn.com) Paul. Kelly scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal after Jack Drury forced a turnover by Wild defenseman Jake Middleton, breaking a 2-2 tie before Colorado added two more goals to close out a 5-2 victory. (nhl.com) Jared Bednar spoke publicly on May 13 ahead of Game 5, according to the Avalanche’s team site, as Colorado prepared for a chance to end the series at home. The club’s schedule page listed Wednesday’s game for 6 p.m. Mountain time on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. If Minnesota extended the series, Game 6 was scheduled for May 15 in St. Paul, with a Game 7 set for May 17 in Colorado if needed. (nhl.com) Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar remained central to Colorado’s case as a betting favorite. ESPN’s futures board listed MacKinnon at +310 for the Conn Smythe Trophy and Makar at +900, while goaltender Scott Wedgewood was listed at 30-1. The same board had Minnesota at 30-1 to win the Stanley Cup and 14-1 to win the Western Conference entering the mid-May slate. (nhl.com) Colorado’s regular-season numbers also help explain the market’s view. ESPN’s team page listed the Avalanche at 55-16-11 with 3.63 goals per game and 2.40 goals allowed per game, while Minnesota was 46-24-12 with 3.27 goals per game and 2.87 goals allowed. MacKinnon led Colorado in the regular season with 53 goals and 127 points, and Kirill Kaprizov led Minnesota with 45 goals and 89 points. (espn.com) The immediate question Wednesday was whether Colorado could finish the series before it returned to Minnesota. NHL.com’s second-round schedule listed Game 5 for May 13 at Ball Arena, with Game 6 on May 15 and Game 7 on May 17 if the Wild kept the series alive. (nhl.com) (espn.com)