Minnesota Wild Stage Comeback In Game 7 Win Over Avalanche

Apr 30, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Nino Niederreiter (22) and Colorado Avalanche right wing P.A. Parenteau (15) greet each other following the overtime period in game seven of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Four times the Colorado Avalanche had a 1 goal lead. Four times the Minnesota Wild came back to even the score. Then Nino Niederreiter played the hero in overtime as the Wild Card Minnesota Wild upset the division leading Avalanche in 7 games.

The series was exclusively won by the home team, right up until the end when the Wild finally took one on the road.

Jared Spurgeon scored with 2:27 left (and make note Patrick Roy: the goalie was still in the net!) to tie the game for the Minesota Wild for the fourth time and send the game to overtime.

Niederreiter’s second of the game was the winner, as he and Dany Heatley went in 2 on 1 with the Swiss forward keeping and firing a puck past Semyon Varlamov.

Ilya Bryzgalov ended up getting the win in relief of Darcy Kuemper, who left with just over 8 minutes left in the third after getting in a collision earlier in the game, and then aggravating it before leaving the game with what appeared to be a lower body injury.

Nick Holden had put the Avs up one in the first, with Jamie McGinn standing on top of Kuemper. Mikko Koivu snapped one past Varlamov to even the score before McGinn scored one of his own to put the Avs up 2-1 after 1.