To the Western Conference final they go.

The Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild in dramatic fashion Wednesday night, ending the series in five games. In doing so, the Avalanche will take a much-needed two days off and await the winner of the series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks.

But before we look ahead, we have to look back at how the Avalanche took down the Wild, one of the top teams in the NHL.

Injuries and the top seed

Key injuries for the Wild no doubt played a role in this series. They were at an immediate disadvantage without top center Joel Eriksson Ek and a very steady defenseman in Jonas Brodin. Would this series have looked different with those two playing? Absolutely, but the NHL playoffs are a war of attrition.

And Colorado fought during the regular season for that top seed for a reason.

The Avalanche wanted no part of going through a gantlet in the first round against one of the other top teams in the West, the Dallas Stars. They pushed for the top seed and were rewarded with an easier matchup with (and eventual sweep of) the Los Angeles Kings. Minnesota had to fight through tight games and multiple overtimes to beat Dallas, which wore them down heading into the second round and ultimately took out some of their key players.

There is very much a “what if?” scenario from the Wild point of view if those two are in the lineup. But this series did vindicate the Avalanche for putting such an emphasis on winning the division.

Hughes vs. Makar

Two elite defensemen went head-to-head in this series, and while Quinn Hughes is all over the highlight reels at one end, he left a lot to be desired at the other end. He could very well be the most dynamic defenseman in the world with the puck on his stick, but can you be considered the best in the world when you aren’t trusted to hold the lead or kill a penalty? Even without Brodin, the Wild don’t turn to Hughes when the opposing team pulls the goaltender. Doesn’t that say something?

Hughes feasted on Colorado’s bottom-six forwards. He’s a nightmare to deal with in the offensive zone for any forward, but you have to make him defend. Against the top line for the Avalanche, the numbers aren’t pretty for the Wild defenseman. In his 52 minutes of 5-on-5 time against Nathan MacKinnon, his expected goals-for percentage was just 35.88%. He doesn’t have the benefit of much depth on that Minnesota blue line, but no one will mistake Hughes for a shutdown defenseman.

And then you have Cale Makar, who is clearly battling through some sort of issue with his right shoulder. He grabbed it multiple times in Game 5 and even left the bench for a few minutes. That hit he took on March 30 from Adam Klapka still looms large and must concern the Avalanche moving forward. While the offense (and particularly shooting) from Makar wasn’t really there this series, the defense was.

In nearly 94 minutes of 5-on-5 time, Makar was only on the ice for two goals against. The Avalanche had an expected goals-for percentage of 65.64% with Makar on the ice. He had a positive expected goals-for percentage against every single play on the Wild in the five games, and Matt Boldy, in particular, had a very bad time against him. They’re both elite, but they are different.

Now the Avalanche will spend the next few days locking Makar in a hyperbaric chamber or something to heal him up as much as they can before the next round.

Best on best

Kirill Kaprizov is about the be the highest-paid player in the NHL. Like Hughes, he is the least of Minnesota’s worries moving forward. But in a head-to-head romp with the Avalanche’s top players, there wasn’t much of a comparison.

Kaprizov could very well have been the best player on the ice during Game 3 back in Minnesota, but in the next two games, he combined for one shot on goal. Nathan MacKinnon had nine shots on goal in Game 5 alone. Martin Necas created the overtime winner, moments after Kaprizov and Matt Boldy blew an odd-man rush. Boldy was dynamite against Dallas but left a lot to be desired in this series, only scoring on an empty net.

MacKinnon and Necas combined for 18 points in the series, while Boldy and Kaprizov had 10. Your best players have to be your best, and for the most part Colorado’s were. Minnesota will likely be on the pursuit for a top-flight center over the summer to help out their two-top wingers.

Depth helps as well

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this postseason run for the Avalanche is that they’re headed to the conference finals and neither Brock Nelson nor Valeri Nichushkin has scored on a goaltender. Any other year, that statistic would have sent the Avalanche home early, but Chris MacFarland again went all-in this season. It’s paying off.

Nicolas Roy and Nazem Kadri, two deadline additions, are making up for the lack of offense from Nichushkin and Nelson. Kadri had four points in this series, while Roy had three and just seems to come through in the clutch time and time again. Ross Colton might have had some of his best moments in an Avalanche uniform this series and chipped in with three points of his own.

And then you have the fourth line. Jack Drury won 71% of his face-offs against the Wild and came through in the clutch multiple times, including a late goal in Game 5. Parker Kelly scored the game-winner in Game 4 and got the goal that started the comeback Wednesday. Logan O’Connor was a menace on the forecheck, and Joel Kiviranta played well when he got back in the lineup.

“It just shows you need literally everybody to win even a series in this league,” MacKinnon said.

That’s the truth.

One concern moving forward would still be depth on defense. With Makar banged up, the Avalanche went down to four defensemen at times on Wednesday. Jack Ahcan barely played. While they could go to Blankenburg again, the fact they pulled him out of the lineup says a lot. Makar and Sam Malinski’s health will be key moving forward.

Goaltending moving forward

It’s fair to assume Scott Wedgewood will be in net for the Avalanche to start the conference final. He had two off games against the Wild, but played well in Game 2 and did his part in Game 5, although he was rarely tested. Mackenzie Blackwood was good in his first start, but while the team in front of him struggled on Wednesday, so did he.

“I just kind of felt like everything that was coming to the net, (Blackwood) wasn’t controlling the rebounds,” Bednar said after the game. “There was too much garbage in front of the net, and if that’s the way they were going to play, we needed to handle some pucks clean through traffic and without traffic, and (Blackwood) wasn’t doing that.”

Bednar is an honest guy, and that’s being brutally honest right there. It would seem it’s Wedgewood’s net moving forward — at least for the time being.

What I’m hearing

• Although he didn’t look OK to anyone watching, Bednar did say this after the game about Makar: “Cale is OK.”
• That was the first time since 2008 the Avalanche have won a series on home ice. “I could definitely feel it, hear it. That was cool, really cool,” MacKinnon said of the crowd noise late in the third.

What I’m seeing

• Anaheim, like Utah before it, has looked like the better team against the Golden Knights. Both those teams’ lack of experience has shown through in each series, while Vegas has a lot of guys who have been there before. That can matter and has thus far.
• Montreal’s in-arena experience is unmatched. The game I attended back in January was incredible, and that was a regular-season game. Playoffs are at another level.

What I’m thinking

• We are inching closer to a Carolina-Colorado Stanley Cup Final with each passing day. The obvious storyline heading into a series like that would be how they both benefited from trading away Mikko Rantanen.
• It’s strange how TNT’s broadcast seems to always be on a minute delay while ESPN’s broadcast has maybe a delay of a second or two. Not sure what goes into that, but when TNT is broadcasting, it’s best to turn off phone notifications.