ST. PAUL, Minn. — It’s a series now.

The Minnesota Wild came out and were clearly the better team in Game 3, taking it to the Colorado Avalanche from the drop of the puck on their way to a 5-1 victory at Grand Casino Arena. Minnesota got out to a 3-0 lead less than 25 minutes into the game and never looked back, with Jesper Wallstedt stopping 34 of the 35 shots the Avalanche sent his way.

Nathan MacKinnon was the lone goal scorer for Colorado, which should not have been a surprise to anyone who watched the game. The Avalanche struggled to get any offense when he was not on the ice, which led to Jared Bednar switching up his lines multiple times throughout the night.

“What we were doing wasn’t working,” Bednar said of the changes. “I felt like tonight, if the MacKinnon line wasn’t on the ice, we weren’t getting anything.”

And those changes ultimately didn’t alter the course of this game. At 5-on-5, the numbers don’t look bad for the Avalanche, but special teams have really mattered in this series. They certainly mattered in Game 3.

Colorado got the first power play, one they failed to score on when there was still no score in the first period, and moments later, the two teams found themselves playing 4-on-4 hockey. A breakdown defensively by the Avalanche saw Kirill Kaprizov all alone coming down the slot, and he beat Scott Wedgewood to give the Wild the early lead.

With both teams still down a man, Devon Toews was sent to the box, allowing Quinn Hughes to score on the Wild’s first power play. The same script was followed again as the game continued, as the Avalanche couldn’t score on their next man advantage opportunity while the Wild could, making it 3-0.

As poor as the special teams were, the Avalanche just weren’t good enough all night long.

“We didn’t play good enough to win a hockey game tonight against a desperate team,” Bednar said. “Looked to me like they had more determination. They were more tenacious, more physical and we tried to respond but we didn’t get a lot out of some of our lines tonight. We need to do more to win that hockey game against the team that their backs were against the wall.”

Minnesota made another goaltending swap, putting Wallstedt back in net after giving him a night off. He responded in a big way, but the Avalanche didn’t think they made it difficult enough for him.

“We didn’t get a lot of guys to the net tonight overall,” Cale Makar said. “It’s going to happen. But even though we generated a lot of opportunities, the secondary opportunities weren’t quite there for us.”

While the Wild made their second goaltending switch this series, the Avalanche made their first. Scott Wedgewood was pulled after giving up three goals on 12 shots, so Bednar turned to Mackenzie Blackwood for the first time this postseason.

Part of the pull had to do with Wedgewood’s play, but a large part also had to do with how flat the group in front of him was playing.

“From what I’ve seen out of Blackwood here recently, a rested guy and a guy that we trust, I felt like it was a good opportunity for us to get him in and see if it sparked our group and if he could maybe close our door the rest of the way. That’s why I did it,” Bednar said. “Just felt like they had all the momentum and all the speed early in that game, and we needed to do something. We needed to do something to get our guys fired up and going. I was hoping that would be part of it.”

That spark never came as the Avalanche will now have to respond to a loss for the first time this postseason.

“If your confidence is wavering after one loss in the playoffs, then your focus isn’t in the right place,” Bednar said.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

Wild 5, Avalanche 1

What happened: Minnesota punched the Avalanche in the mouth to cut its series deficit to 2-1; now Colorado must respond.

What went right: The top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Martin Necas was the only group generating any offense for the Avalanche, as they combined for 14 shots on goal.

What went wrong: Colorado has to start getting more out of their second line, which mostly consists of Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin. Nelson failed to register a shot attempt at 5-on-5, while Nichushkin had just one shot on goal while at even strength. Artturi Lehkonen, who moved to that line in the second period, didn’t register a 5-on-5 shot either.

Avalanche goal scorers: MacKinnon (5)

Wild goal scorers: Kaprizov (4), Hughes (4), Hartman (3), Faber (4), Boldy (7)

Between the pipes: Wedgewood finished with nine saves, while Blackwood stopped 12 of the 13 he faced.

What’s next: Game 4 will be Monday night at 6 p.m. (ESPN)