Wild posts second straight shutout over Avs to open season

DENVER – It felt like Game 9 of the playoffs.

Two nights after the Wild thumped the Colorado Avalanche 5-0 in a game that felt like — and probably deserved to be — 10-0, the bitter rivals that entertained so mightily last postseason capped their home-and-home season openers by renewing last playoff's intensity, frantic action and bitterness.

After failing to remotely show up Thursday in St. Paul, the Avalanche was engaged from the start this night. But the Wild didn't back down to the season's first gut check, again got rock-solid goaltending from Darcy Kuemper and skated to a season-opening sweep of the Avs with a hard-fought 3-0 victory at the Pepsi Center.

"There definitely was that kind of [playoff] intensity," Kuemper said after becoming the first goalie since Roberto Luongo in 2005 to open a season with consecutive shutouts. "Two rivals going at it, and they definitely wanted to respond after last game. It was a good road win."

Added Charlie Coyle, "It brought back some memories of the playoffs."

Facing last season's fourth-most potent offense, Kuemper was tested much more than Thursday's 16-save shutout. He stood tall with 30 saves, helping weather several storms with freezes and heists. He now is riding a career-best 119-minute, 44 second shutout streak.

"He came up huge on a number of occasions," Coyle said. "He bailed us out a few times."

With fans charged up after Colorado unveiled its 2013-14 Central Division championship banner, Coyle silenced them with a goal, his first of the season, 1:51 in. With the Wild enduring an Avalanche push, Erik Johnson's five-minute elbowing major and a questionable disallowed goal for Coyle, all in an anxious first half of the second period, Jason Zucker gave the Wild a critical two-goal cushion.

Then, Zach Parise, on his career-high-tying 10th shot, iced the game with an empty-netter. The Wild now has five days off before next playing in Anaheim on Friday.

There were several other big performances. Defense partners Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon were terrific, with Spurgeon blocking nine shots and Scandella four. Ryan Suter was a horse in 28-plus minutes and had an assist. Jonas Brodin was plus-2.

In two games, there have been seven goal scorers.

"It's hard for me to single out individuals," coach Mike Yeo said. "If you want, we can talk about them, but we'd have to spend a lot of time doing it. Very, very solid team efforts through the first two games.

The game was ugly and tense at times.

Johnson, a native of Bloomington, was assessed an elbowing major and game misconduct on fellow former Gophers player Erik Haula, who remained in the game after taking Johnson's blow to the head. Afterward, captain Gabriel Landeskog came off the bench to argue with the referee, but he first made a beeline to get into it with Haula.

Haula said Landeskog told him to "stay down since I was hurt so bad." Avs coach Patrick Roy said he watched the video 20 times and there was no elbow. Haula felt Johnson, who did lead with the elbow, got him with his hand.

Later, Landeskog, who boarded Ryan Carter in St. Paul on Thursday, slammed Nino Niederreiter into the ice, then his head into the dasher between the boards and the end-zone glass.

"It was intense out there," Yeo said.

The Wild overcame a questionable call by referee Graham Skilliter, who waved off what would have been Coyle's second goal after Niederreiter landed on top of goalie Semyon Varlamov. Replays showed Niederreiter was pushed onto Varlamov by Colorado defenseman Jan Hejda.

But the Wild would get that oh-so important second goal with 9:10 left when Zucker sailed Thomas Vanek's pass over Varlamov's left shoulder.

"They had a few momentum swings where they were coming hard," Zucker said. "We wanted to make sure we got that second one."