Things went about as badly as they could have for the Minnesota Wild in their Game 5 loss to the Avalanche. Simply losing the series should have been rough enough, but in true Minnesota Sports fashion, the Wild found ways to make it even worse.
In order to get to the series-ending loss in overtime, the Wild needed to give up a three goal lead -- something the team managed to do with just under three minutes left in the game. That's how close Minnesota was to extending the series and forcing a Game 6 back in St. Paul. At that point, anything could have happened but what did end up happening was the Wild giving up two goals in just over two minutes to allow the Avs to tie the game.
Colorado scored a few minutes into overtime and the Wild's season came to an even more depressing end than it needed to. It was a historic meltdown in ever sense, as Minnesota did something so embarassing that it had never been done before.
The Wild are the first team in NHL history to have a 3+ goal lead at the first intermission of a playoff game but then have fewer than 10 shots on goal the rest of the way and end up losing. pic.twitter.com/oPlJmcwH4n
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 14, 2026
It's just like, come on man. Minnesota Sports is such a harbinger of doom for a population of fans that really haven't done anything to deserve this level of pain. And it's not just the pain of watching your team lose, it's the utter embarassment of how it happens that makes it even worse.
Despite a historic collapse, the Wild still have a bright future ahead
Nobody really expected the Wild to win this series, and even if they had managed to upset the Avs in Game 5 the chances of them forcing a Game 7 were still slim. At least the season would have ended in St. Paul, though, and not on the road -- and it might not have ended with a blown three-goal lead.
It's that kind of stuff that makes it hard to feel good about things, even though there's hope, unlike we've ever seen before, when the Wild limp out of the playoffs. Bill Guerin has a laundry list of things to do this offseason, chief among them being a new deal for Quinn Hughes.
Assuming Hughes signs his deal, which even for how bad things look now doesn't feel like an additional fumble we'll have to endure, the Wild will be big game hunting on the trade market. This team was already talented enough to make the second round and put up six goals on the best team in hockey -- while still losing by three, but I digress -- and it's going to get better over the next few months.
It might not feel like it right now but the future is bright for the Wild. There's a championship window open right now that Guerin has proven he's capable of navigating through. He pulled off the Hughes trade, he put together a gold medal winning Olympic roster, and he's likely even more motivated to put a winning team on the ice in Minnesota after how things ended.
Make no mistake, there's an embarassing shadow being cast over everything right now, but even a historic meltdown can't block out the rays of hope that are peaking through even the gloomiest of Minnesota Sports hangovers.
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