Avalanche youngsters run Wild on Minnesota in Game 2

Colorado Avalanche centre Paul Stastny pushes Minnesota Wild centre Mikael Granlund from the crease as goalie Semyon Varlamov defends during Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series at the Pepsi Center in Denver, April 19, 2014. (DOUG PENSINGER/Getty Images/AFP)

Robert Tychkowski, QMI Agency

Apr 20, 2014

, Last Updated: 2:09 AM ET

DENVER - On the bright side, the Minnesota Wild know what the problem is.

All they have to do now is come up with a solution to the electrifying and dynamic Colorado Avalanche trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny, who’ve spent the first two games of this playoff series totally dismantling one of the most structured and disciplined teams in the league.

They combined for 10 points in Saturday’s 4-2 victory, scoring highlight-reel goal after highlight-reel goal after highlight-reel goal to put Colorado up 2-0 in the best-of-seven quarterfinal that won’t last nearly that long if Minnesota doesn’t figure out a way to slow them down.

“That line has been on fire, making a lot of plays, making a lot happen,” said Wild defenceman Ryan Suter. “We were defending on our heels tonight. That’s not good enough.

“We didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing and they played well. They played really well.”

The Avs’ big line turned the Pepsi Center into their own playground Saturday, embarrassing defencemen, chasing the goalie and grabbing this series by the throat.

“They had an outstanding game, they were moving the puck well and skating well,” said Avs coach Patrick Roy. “That third goal ... Wow!”

True, the trio haven’t played a game in Minnesota yet, but this doesn’t look like an issue that has much to do with location.

After jumping out to a 4-2 lead in Game 1, the Wild have been outscored 7-2 since. The line of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Stastny has six of those goals, and 17 points in two games.

“We have to be a little more physical on them, take away time and space,” said Wild defenceman Marco Scandella. “We didn’t do as great a job of that as we wanted to tonight.

“They’re getting a lot of speed in the neutral zone and we have slow that down. We have keep battling and makes their lives more difficult.”

So much for concerns about Colorado’s young players wilting under the weight of their first playoffs.

Landeskog has three goals in two games while MacKinnon and Stastny have seven points each.

“Obviously, there was some speculation coming in,” said MacKinnon. “We didn’t listen. We wanted to play our game.

“It’s nice to have some success, but if I want to be a consistent player in this league, especially in the playoffs, I need to forget pretty quickly.”

Minnesota would love to forget about the last two games.

“We felt like we came here and deserved to win at least one of these games,” said Zach Parise. “Now we’re 0-2. We’re in a hole now. We have to win the third one that’s all we can worry about regardless of what happened here.”

The Wild began the game looking exactly like a desperate visitor is supposed to. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead and were on the verge of making it 2-0 early.

“That was arguably one of the best starts we’ve had all year,” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. “We were all over them. Then after they scored their first goal they obviously gained momentum.”

The change in tide started when MacKinnon pulled away from Mikko Koivu in Colorado territory, burned through the neutral zone, corkscrewed Jared Spurgeon into the ice and fired a puck under Ilya Bryzgalov’s arm to make it 1-1.

“A lot of D have trouble with Nate,” said Roy.

Early in the second, MacKinnon backed up Minnesota’s defence with his speed and set up Landeskog, who put it under the cross bar at 2:58.

Seven minutes later, more high-octane brilliance as MacKinnon fed the puck to Stastny, who delivered a behind-the-back pass to Landeskog, who made it 3-1.

That spelled the end for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who left after allowing three goals on 14 shots. In came Darcy Kuemper, who hadn’t played a game since late March.

There was some major controversy late in the third period, when linesmen blew dead an empty net goal by P.A. Parenteau before replays showed it should have counted. Moments later, Minnesota made it 3-2 with 1:29 left.

Guess who sealed it with the empty netter? Stastny from MacKinnon.

SPINNING SPURGEON

Jared Spurgeon will be having nightmares about Colorado Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon for a while.

As soon as his head stops spinning.

The Minnesota Wild defenceman was the victim of some high-profile burns Saturday night, none worse than on Colorado’s first goal when he got spun into the ice trying to deal with a streaking MacKinnon.

Highlight reels, here he comes.

“That’s playoffs,” said Wild coach Mike Yeo. “I’m not going to sit here and dissect him too much. He is a guy who’s bounced back continually. If he wasn’t at his best tonight. I’m confident he will be next game. That’s the type of character he is, that’s the type of player he is.

“It’s not a matter of one guy. We put our defencemen in some tough positions with the way we played in front of them at certain times in the game. It’s about our team.”