Penalty killing continues to plague the Avalanche

Penalty killing has been the Colorado Avalanche's Achilles heel all season, and it was again in the series opener.

Minnesota scored on two of its three power plays.

"Our penalty killing wasn't very good," defenseman Derek Morris said. "Actually, we had a bad penalty kill and a bad power play, and those are the things you need to win a series."

Referring to Minnesota's two power-play goals, Morris said, "They made a great pass on one. The other one was just a lucky rebound."

Morris insisted the Avalanche "didn't underestimate the Wild at all. We know they're a good team. They play their system to a 'T' and they wait for mistakes. We made a couple of mistakes."

Colorado's penalty kill ranked near the bottom of the NHL for most of the season, showing some improvement late in the season.

"We got better as the season went along, penalty killing-wise," coach Tony Granato said. "The numbers don't look good during the regular season. It's a priority. We're focusing on making sure our penalty killers are aware of what to expect from the other team and what is expected from them. Last night, obviously Minnesota got the best of us in that situation."

WALKING WOUNDED: Minnesota's Cliff Ronning and Jason Marshall both left the ice Thursday night after being hit by pucks, but both were at practice on Friday.

Colorado's Mike Keane, scratched from Thursday's opener, has stiffness in his back but might be available for Game 2.

FIRST-GAME JITTERS: Minnesota's Marian Gaborik, 21, made his NHL playoff debut Thursday night and admitted he had some first-game jitters, as did many of his teammates.

"We were a little nervous in the first period and it showed," he said. "We weren't as nervous the rest of the game.

"I don't think we had a fear of them. A lot of players say it takes the first five minutes to get going because you get butterflies in your stomach and to get your legs. It's different here with the atmosphere and the fact we're facing one of the best goaltenders of all time (Patrick Roy).

"We were outshot, but we were in the game. Our goalie made a lot of saves."

Ronning agreed that the Avalanche's talent level poses a problem.

"That's a tough team over there," Ronning said. "If you let up for one shift, they will come at you. They have probably the best goaltender ever, probably two of the best defensemen and probably two of the best forwards. You can't for a second let up."