Minnesota forward Martin Havlat took a needless slashing penalty, giving the Colorado Avalanche a power play opportunity, the first of the game. Less than 30 seconds into the opportunity, Minnesota Wild’s Matt Cullen converted a rebound on an open net to give the Wild a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. It was the first shorthanded goal that Colorado had given up since the first two weeks of the season and their fifth shorthanded goal surrendered this season.
On the very same power play, Colorado Avalanche forward David Jones tied up the game. His shot from the right faceoff circle was stopped by Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, but Jones skated in hard and converted his own rebound, pushing Backstrom’s pads and the puck into the goal.