Parise scores twice as Wild scores important 4-0 victory at Colorado

DENVER – As usually happens at Pepsi Center, the Colorado Avalanche tried to run the Wild out of the building Saturday afternoon with physical play.

"It didn't faze us, it didn't bother us," Zach Parise said before taking a subtle shot across Colorado's bow. "We knew we had to play the game eventually."

And, as usually happens at Pepsi Center, once the Avalanche expended all that early energy and "the game" eventually was played, the Wild took firm control and skated out of town with two huge points. The difference with this 4-0 win compared with so many of the Wild's other victories in the Mile High City is the Wild seriously damaged the playoff hopes of its fiercest rival while putting itself in terrific position to reach the postseason for a fourth consecutive season.

In front of a large crowd of Wild supporters chanting "Let's Go Wild!!!" throughout, Parise, always an Avs assassin, scored two goals one game after his third hat trick of the season. Mikael Granlund scored a goal and had an assist, and Jordan Schroeder delivered a body blow of a two-goal lead in the final seconds of the second period to help give the Wild a five-point lead over the ninth-place Avalanche for the second Western Conference wild-card spot.

Devan Dubnyk was a rock, especially when the Wild was withstanding Colorado's early attack. He made 29 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and 19th of his career.

"It's far from over, we know that," Parise said of the race for a playoff berth. "But we've put ourselves in a good spot where you want to keep pushing them down."

On March 15, the Wild gave up a tying goal in the final seconds, then lost to Ottawa in overtime. On March 17, the Wild was blown out in New Jersey. The Wild has responded with a season-best five-game winning streak.

"I wasn't worried about it. Everyone else was worried, but I wasn't," coach John Torchetti said. "I trust this team, and we've got to trust each other."

The Wild has six games left, only two against playoff teams. The Avs, playing without injured stars Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, have seven games left. But they're the only team in the NHL that plays every game against a team occupying a playoff spot.

But, Torchetti warned, "Until you're in, you're just never happy."

The Wild's peaking at the perfect time, though. Several players are on individual hot streaks. Dubnyk is 10-1-1 in his past 13 starts. The power play, which has climbed to 10th in the NHL, is scoring almost nightly. The penalty kill is 24-for-25 over the past 10 games.

Unfortunately for the Wild, it doesn't play Colorado again. The Wild is 12-2-1 against the Avs since Game 3 of the 2014 playoffs and 8-1-1 in the past 10 meetings. The Wild went 4-0-1 against them this season and is 17-3-4 in its past 24 regular-season visits to Denver.

Parise especially loves facing the Avs. His 35 points against Colorado in 26 games including the playoffs since 2012-13 are 16 more points than any NHLer.

"It's just one of those teams, I guess, but our team has done a really good job against these guys," Parise said.

Part of the reason is the Wild knows it usually has to weather that early physical storm before things usually calm down.

"They come out flying here, looking to take the body and intimidate you a little bit," Dubnyk said, adding with a laugh, "They're always talking. I don't know if they think it's scary, but we do a pretty good job of sticking to our game."

Parise brought Grade A effort, stealing the puck that led to his first goal, then burying a power-play goal for his team-leading 24th and 3-0 lead.

"That's what I expect every night," Torchetti said. "He's our best competitor, and that's what he's got to be every night."