In a chippy exhibition summer opener in Edmonton on Wednesday, the Avalanche took far too many penalties but used a near-flawless penalty-killing effort to defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 at Rogers Place.
Colorado, playing its first game since March 11, got goals from Joonas Donskoi, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog — the latter on a power play for the game-winner. The Avs, who have a bye in the best-of-five, play-in round that begins Saturday, will begin playing for Western Conference seeding Sunday against the St. Louis Blues.
“First steps on the ice, you feel a little bit weird with no fans,” said Avs winger Mikko Rantanen, who logged 16:10 in ice time in his first game since Feb.