Postgame Hat Trick: Avalanche 4, Wild 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-1 loss against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday night:

1. A quick turn of events
Down a goal after one, the Wild owned the vast majority of the second period. Minnesota, which trailed 15-8 in shots after 20 minutes, posted 15 of the first 20 shots on goal and saw that effort finally pay off when Ryan Hartman blasted a one-timer on the power play to knot the game at 1-1.
Hartman's goal seemed to put a charge in the Avalanche, however.
On the next shift, Nathan MacKinnon hammered Jonas Brodin with a clean, hard hit, gained control of the puck and fed Erik Johnson in the slot, who wired a shot past Cam Talbot 40 seconds after Hartman's tally to re-establish the Colorado lead.
"It wasn't so much a bad shift, but MacKinnon created off it," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "He was physical and makes the play."
The Avs kept that momentum into the third, getting a power-play goal from Nazem Kadri 2:54 into the period to push its lead to two goals.
Minnesota killed off the rest of the major, including 69 seconds of 5-on-3 disadvantage after that, but couldn't sustain much of a rally as it tried to get back into the game.
"We did so many good things in this hockey game, but didn't get the result," Evason said. "But if we can play that type of game in all three zones, we'll be in good shape."

For Hartman, who was back on the wing on Saturday, it was his fourth goal of the season in just eight games. Seeing expanded ice time, Hartman is now more than halfway to his season total of seven goals in 51 games last season and appears well on to his way to challenging his career high of 19 goals he posted as a Chicago Blackhawk in 2016-17.
"He gets in there. He plays hard every night and he's an agitator," said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. "He's not scared to shoot. He's [got] a playoff hockey mentality and that's just the way he is. He's fun to play with and a guy that you always know he's going to show up.
"He's got hands, he's got a good shot and he's scored many goals before. We expect that out of him."
2. All in good fun
It's been a busy early season in the solo lap department as the Wild had its fourth NHL debut in eight games on Saturday night, as Adam Beckman - recalled from Iowa on Friday - got the rookie lap treatment at Ball Arena.
It didn't come without a little fun at Beckman's expense.
In the moments before warmups, Beckman was pacing the dressing room looking for his helmet. Equipment manager Tony Da Costa had requested it a while earlier to "make repairs to his visor" ... only to hide the bucket, first behind a water cooler in the tunnel leading out to the bench, and eventually in his left hand.

"He tells me, 'I gotta fix this,' then he didn't bring it back to me for a little bit," Beckman said. "I kind of figured something was going on. It was pretty fun to have that, something I'll remember."
As Wild players gathered in the tunnel to head onto the ice, starting goaltender Cam Talbot - out of habit and without Beckman standing there - nearly stormed onto the ice first, only to get a last second yell from captain Jared Spurgeon standing nearby.
At that moment, Beckman decided to give up his hunt and take warmup with no helmet. So he flew around the corner and sprinted onto the ice for his solo lap, with Da Costa standing behind the bench laughing, Beckman bucket in hand.
After a couple of solo laps on the ice, Da Costa handed the helmet over to the unsuspecting rookie. Beckman said going no bucket for warmups probably isn't going to be a staple moving forward.
At least not yet.

"I don't think I have enough experience for that," Beckman said. "But maybe someday."
The result wasn't what Beckman wanted, but to reach the NHL, and to do so in front of his parents, Janet and Dale - whom he hadn't seen since August - made the experience extra special.
"With everything that's going on [related to COVID-19], I feel very fortunate that they were able to come here and experience that with me," Beckman said. "It was quite an experience to see them after the game.
"I feel very fortunate and thankful to have the opportunity. It's something I'll remember forever and it was a ton of fun."
3. Welcome to the show ... Part 4
Saturday's game marked the second consecutive contest where the Wild has had at least one player making his NHL debut, after Connor Dewar and Jon Lizotte did so Thursday in Seattle.
As mentioned, he became the fourth player in eight games already to play his first game, which puts the Wild on some kind of pace.
The four debuts is the most since the Wild had six players reach the NHL for the first time in 2017-18 - and that came in 82 games.
The Wild record for debuts in a single campaign is 10 back in 2011-12. Undoubtedly, the Wild's pace will slow from its current rate, but it seems likely that Minnesota's number will continue to go up, especially with some of the young talent on the cusp in Iowa.
"Give those young guys credit: they've come in and played valuable minutes and they haven't hurt us," said Wild goaltender Cam Talbot. "They're playing extremely hard whenever they're out there. It's not easy ... especially in a game like this and in Seattle. I thought they've handled themselves really well."

Loose pucks

• Beckman registered three shots on goal in 10:51 time on ice
• Dumba assisted on Hartman's goal to register his 200th NHL point. He's the 15th player and third Wild defenseman to reach that milestone, joining Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon
• Foligno also had an assist and is tied for second on the club with six points this season
• Talbot made 27 saves on 30 shots
• Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper finished with 29 saves on 30 shots
• MacKinnon had a pair of assists and was a plus-3
• Landeskog finished the game with four points, including two goals and two assists
• Johnson and Nazem Kadri had the other goals for Colorado

Dan's three stars

1. Gabriel Landeskog
   2. Darcy Kuemper
   3. Erik Johnson

Highlights