Makar Scores Twice After Injury in Avs' 9-6 Game 1 Win

Cale Makar scored twice in the third period after returning from an early injury, powering the Colorado Avalanche to a 9-6 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their Western Conference second-round playoff series on Sunday night in Denver.

The Avalanche, who jumped to a 3-0 lead just 6:47 into the game on goals from Sam Malinski, Jack Drury and Artturi Lehkonen, blew that advantage before rallying back. The Wild tied the score at 5-5 through two periods, taking a brief 5-4 edge on Marcus Foligno's shorthanded goal at 16:55 of the second before Devon Toews evened it 38 seconds later. Makar then broke the tie at 3:21 of the third with a wrist shot off a Nathan MacKinnon pass, Nazem Kadri added a breakaway goal at 5:43, Mats Zuccarello deflected one in at 16:01 to pull Minnesota within one, and Makar answered 65 seconds later to make it 8-6. MacKinnon sealed the win with an empty-netter at 17:52.

The game featured five goals per period for a total of 15, the 10th playoff contest with that many combined goals and only the second since 1994. Fourteen different players scored, tying for the second-most in postseason history. Both teams entered as two of the league's top...