Avs Don't Need Overtime to Beat Wild

No fluke finish to this one. No overtime, either. Jose Theodore stopped 24 of 25 shots and the Colorado Avalanche used a three-goal first-period to rout the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Tuesday night, tying their first-round playoff series at two games each. The first three games of the series—as well as the last two when these two teams met in the 2003 playoffs—all went into overtime and ended in 3-2 scores.

The series goes back to Minnesota for Game 5 on Thursday night, and it should be interesting—this game featured a whole lot of fighting, including some fisticuffs after the final horn sounded. Minnesota collected an astounding 119 minutes of penalty time, 24 by Derek Boogaard, who was ejected, and 35 by Stephane Veilleux, who received a 10-minute misconduct that was assessed at game's end.