Wild's best players come to play in exhibition finale

Finally, the exhibition season is over. From here on out, the games will count.
The Wild wrapped up the preseason Friday night in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche, the same site and the same opponent Minnesota will open the regular season against in six days.

"I think everybody wants to get [to the regular season," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "But we play these guys Thursday and it was more like a regular season game. I think the tempo was a lot higher than the other preseason games we've played. We battled pretty hard tonight."
With several of its regulars back in the Twin Cities, the ones that did make the trip west made their presence known.
Minnesota rallied from a 3-1 third-period deficit, getting goals from Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker in the process, before dropping a 4-3 decision in overtime.
Alexander Kerfoot scored the only goal of the first period as Colorado took a 1-0 lead into intermission.

Only 14 seconds into the second, Granlund finished off a nice forecheck and set up by Zucker, who fed a pass from behind the net through the crease right to Granlund's tape.
Just over a minute later, Tyson Jost gave the Avs the lead again, before Matt Calvert scored 6:16 into the third to give the home team a two-goal cushion.
But again, it was Zucker helping the Wild get back into it.

Less than two minutes later, it was another Zucker forecheck that forced a turnover, as Ryan Murphy fed Niederreiter in front for a spinning backhander.

Late in the contest, Zucker spearheaded a short-handed 2-on-1 rush with Eric Fehr. The former Denver Pioneer took matters into his own hands, scoring off a rebound of his own shot, knotting the game at 3 with 1:02 left in regulation.
"We kept coming back," Boudreau said. "They get to 3-1 and we still battle back in the third period. I think it's a great sign."
Zucker finished the game with one goal, two assists and was a plus-3, but it was Mikko Rantanen's power-play marker 1:29 into the extra session that gave the Avs the bonus point.
"Zucker finally got his legs going and Granlund finally got his legs going. Those are the guys you want to see move their legs," Boudreau said. "I was really happy to see Nino score a goal. That might change his fortunes a little bit.
"We're not at December and November ability yet, but we're getting closer to regular season and I think the guys are anxious about it."
Minnesota's goaltenders Alex Stalock and Andrew Hammond split time between the posts. Stalock played the first half of the game and stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Hammond made 12 saves on 14 shots.
Related:
Final Stats: Wild at Avalanche