Continued: Wild knows it needs to clear that blockage

The Avalanche can be a frustrating team to play because, like many teams in the Western Conference, its players collapse down low and attempt to block shot after shot after shot after ...

Yeah, it was that aggravating for the Wild in Games 1 and 2, and the Wild says it must do a better job getting pucks through as the first-round series moves along.

"What they do, they try to front every shot, front every shot, front every shot," said Brian Rolston, who has had six shots blocked in two games. "They're great at it. If we can tie up their 'D' long enough in front of the net, it'll be big. We're going to have to get better at finding ways to get pucks to the net."

In two games, the Avs have blocked 41 shots, with Ruslan Salei leading the way with seven and Adam Foote with six. During the regular season, Scott Hannan was 12th in the NHL with 153 blocked shots, Foote 14th with 148 and Salei 23rd with 135.

The Wild's best shot-blocker, Nick Schultz, who led the team in that area the past three seasons, is out after an appendectomy, although he skated for the first time Saturday and traveled to Denver for rehab.

The risk in blocking so many shots is knocking pucks past your own goalie, as Jeff Finger did on Mikko Koivu's goal in Game 1 and Salei did on Keith Carney's overtime winner in Game 2.

The Wild's added grit must be contagious, because it's not just Derek Boogaard and Todd Fedoruk supplying the big hits.

The Wild outhit the Avs 24-12 on Friday, with Brent Burns leading the way with seven. The Wild has outhit the Avs 49-30 in the series.

Rolston has been more physical, highlighted by his bumping Salei off the puck 15 seconds before Carney's winner.

There was Martin Skoula pounding hard-hitting Avs forward Cody McLeod, or the biggest crowd-pleaser being Pavol Demitra crushing Peter Forsberg in the neutral zone.

"This is the playoffs, and everybody has to do it," Demitra said. "It doesn't matter if you're skilled or a tough guy. Everybody has to do the same job. When guys see the skill guys make a big hit they appreciate it."

Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said trade-deadline pickup Chris Simon would play in Monday's Game 3, although it's not certain whether it will be in place of Aaron Voros.

Lemaire said the coaches debated long and hard whether to play Simon (73 playoff games, one Stanley Cup, three Stanley Cup Finals) over Voros (playoff debut) on Friday.

"We felt that maybe around the net [Voros] would bring a little more [than Simon]," Lemaire said. "We needed a guy on the power play to stand in front. We felt he'd be a little touch better defensively. But Simon is going to play the next game. How's that?"

The Wild was upset with the hooking penalty on Kim Johnsson that set up Colorado's tying goal in the final minute of regulation, but the players said they didn't let it affect them during the intermission before overtime.

"It was obviously disappointing, because we thought we had the game won," Carney said. "We didn't necessarily like the call, but you have to live with it. We had to refocus and get ready for the overtime. That's what we did."

Added Lemaire: "None of the players talked about that call in the room."

• Avs right winger David Jones has a left foot injury. He was seen in a walking cast after the game. If he misses Games 3 and 4, Colorado coach Joel Quenneville could insert winger Cody McCormick into the lineup, or dress former Gopher Jordan Leopold as a seventh defenseman.

• The Avalanche didn't practice Saturday. The Wild will practice in Denver at 1 p.m. today. Boogaard rested his back Saturday.

• The Wild's playoff ratings came back down to Earth on Friday. After registering an impressive 11.3 rating and 22 share for Wednesday's opener on KSTC (Ch. 45), the Wild's overtime victory in Game 2 had a preliminary rating of 7.9 with a 13 share on FSN North. That means an average of 134,829 households were tuned into Friday's game, 58,028 fewer than watched on Wednesday.

Game 2 ratings peaked in overtime, reaching an 11.7 and 21 share in the final quarter-hour. Final ratings for Friday will be available Monday.

KSTC will air Monday's game in Denver, and FSN North will have Game 4 on Tuesday. FSN also will show the Twins-Tigers at 6 p.m. Tuesday. FSN's plan is to cover the Wild-Avs game from the opening faceoff, meaning if the Twins run long, FSN either will cut away from baseball and provide updates, or provide coverage of the games simultaneously through a double box.

Staff writers Chip Scoggins and Judd Zulgad contributed to this report.