DENVER — As it turns out, intravenous fluids and energy bars weren’t enough to rejuvenate the Wild defensemen on the second night of back-to-backs Tuesday.

No, they should have resorted to smelling salts and defibrillators.

Looking like they were stuck in mud from the outset, the Wild’s tired blue-liners played key roles in a disastrous first period and ultimately one of the Wild’s worst postseason defeats in history.

The Colorado Avalanche trounced the Wild 5-1 in a penalty-filled contest to even the best-of-seven quarterfinals at 2-2.

“Why we were in this series and had a little success against them up to now was because our defenseman were playing at their best,” coach Jacques Lemaire said. “And tonight they didn’t. Lack of energy by all of our defensemen.

“But to me it’s preparation. It’s either that or you can’t do it.”

The Wild, which gave up the most goals it has ever allowed in the playoffs, took a team-record 111 minutes of penalties and handed Colorado a Wild-record 13 power plays. It will only have a day to lick its wounds because Game 5 comes Thursday in St. Paul.

“We’re putting this behind us,” defenseman Sean Hill said. “It’s over. We still have home ice [advantage]. We’ll go back to Minny and get ready for Game 5.”

Added Mikko Koivu, who scored a late goal to tie Marian Gaborik’s team record with goals in four straight games, “We just have to go home and get the next one.”

The Wild put itself in prime position to go for the kill with Monday’s 3-2 overtime victory to take a 2-1 series lead. But as has been the Wild’s character all season, it was also a chance for the Wild to let down.

Living on borrowed time all series, the Wild finally paid for coughing up an early lead. For the fourth straight game in the series and eighth consecutive playoff game, the Wild yielded the first goal. It then kept its track record alive by not scoring in the first 40 minutes for the fourth game in a row.

The Wild has been outscored 9-0 in the first two periods in the series, and has led a grand total of 4 minutes, 31 seconds out of a possible 264:23.

Niklas Backstrom had no shot as he allowed five goals through 40 minutes before Josh Harding came on for a mercy substitution and his playoff debut in the third period. Backstrom’s teammates had no legs and routinely suffered mental lapses and turnovers.

After taking a 3-0 deficit into the second period, the game turned chippy and the Wild began a parade to the penalty box due to extracurricular activity.

Stephane Veilleux lost his composure, taking eight penalties totaling 35 penalty minutes. However, because of some confusion, with 11 minutes, 30 seconds left, he fought Ian Laperriere and got a five-minute major and 10-minute misconduct.

For some reason, he was allowed to stay in the game after serving the fighting major. At the 20-minute mark, he got another two-minute high-sticking minor and 10-minute misconduct.

“I couldn’t wait until that game was over. I couldn’t wait,” Lemaire said. “I knew there was nothing we could do. It was getting ugly. The guys were frustrated. The more we got frustrated, the more we got penalties. Guys were talking from the bench. We got bench penalties. It never stopped.”

Derek Boogaard had two misconducts, and Todd Fedoruk, Kim Johnsson and Aaron Voros also got misconducts in the game. Brian Rolston took three minors.

“It was a physical game. We didn’t show composure,” Veilleux said.

On the Wild’s aggression, Peter Forsberg, who didn’t play for most of the third period, said, “That’s kind of what happens when you get down five goals or four goals. If we were down, it would probably happen the same way.”

From the opening shift, it was obvious it was going to be a long night for the Wild and its tired defensemen. The comedy of errors was plentiful:

-- Shift 1: Burns turned the puck over behind the net to Ryan Smyth, and the power forward nearly scored on a wraparound.

-- Shift 2: Petteri Nummelin’s lazy cross-feed to Burns was picked off by Cody McLeod, but Backstrom denied the rugged forward.

-- 4:02 of the first: Ruslan Salei’s shot was blocked by Johnsson and bounced right back to Salei. Salei fired on net, and Andrew Brunette lost Hill for the redirection. 

-- 5:37 of the first: Veilleux won a defensive-zone draw cleanly, but Ian Laperriere tangled with Keith Carney until the defenseman put it right on Wojtek Wolski’s stick in the slot for a 2-0 Avs lead.

-- 8:52 of the first: Martin Skoula handed the puck to Tyler Arnason outside the blue line. The former St. Cloud State forward stepped into the Wild zone and while taking a 50-foot slapshot, Johnsson for some reason lunged for the puck. It nipped Johnsson’s stick and changed direction on Backstrom for a 3-0 lead.

-- 32 seconds left in the period: Milan Hejduk walked around a fallen Hill and Backstrom robbed him with the glove.

\Yeah, not pretty. Then, in the second, Salei and Hejduk scored power-play goals for a 5-0 Avs’ lead.

“You look at Skoula as an example,” Lemaire said. “He probably played his worst game for the last three months. I can’t recall him playing like he did tonight. We can’t have that because he’s one of the four top defensemen we have. And Nummelin’s got to be at his best. And Carney’s got to be at his best. And Hill’s got to be at his best.

“If Hill drops, we’re in trouble. It’s a few guys, if they drop from the best game they could give, they have a hard time to play.”