Avs get veteran Josh Manson back on defense before he sets up a Wild goal with a costly mistake

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson returned from a five-game absence with a costly mistake.

The 12th-year veteran was playing for the first time in the second-round NHL playoff series against Minnesota after recovering from an upper-body injury. He took a double minor penalty for hitting Wild center Michael McCarron with the blunt end of his stick during a scrum midway through the first period.

Danila Yurov scored during the four-minute power play to put the Wild on the board first in Game 4 on Monday, with Manson watching from the box. The Avalanche recovered to win 5-2 for a 3-1 lead in the series.

“A little undisciplined there, but it didn’t look to me like it was vicious enough to make it a five-minute major,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I was just kind of hoping for the best and Manse would be able to stay in the game. I think they probably made the right call.”

The first-period tussle with Manson was still on McCarron's mind afterward.

“He’s a dirty player. He’s always been,” McCarron said. “Not very well-respected.”

Manson was checked hard into the boards by McCarron, losing his balance and pulling McCarron down to the ice with him. As Manson tried to get loose from McCarron’s bear hug, he sent a slight jab of his stick at the side of McCarron’s face that caused him to recoil in apparent pain.

Manson threw his hands up in disbelief after the review for a major penalty was announced, and after a longer-than-usual evaluation the call came for the double minor that went in the books for “butt-ending.”

“I blew him up, and he grabbed me and pulls me on top of him,” McCarron said. “He took his butt end and clearly butt-ended me in the face. I don’t know how it’s not a five-minute. I think the rulebook says it’s a five-minute if you butt-end someone in the face.”

Manson was mostly upset that McCarron landed on him after the hit, but he said he didn't purposely try to injure him and lost awareness of where his grip on the stick was during the scrum.

“My intention wasn't to butt-end him. Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head,” Manson said.

The Avalanche made their first significant lineup changes of the playoffs before Game 4, putting Manson and postseason rookie Jack Ahcan on the blue line for Nick Blankenburg and Sam Malinski, who was scratched for the first time this postseason because of an upper-body injury. Manson was hurt in Game 3 of Colorado's first-round sweep of Los Angeles.

Manson posted a career-best plus-42 rating during the regular season, and he had a career-high 91 penalty minutes.

Bednar also gave goalie Mackenzie Blackwood his first start in nearly a month after he relieved Scott Wedgewood during the 5-1 loss in Game 3 to the Wild.

First line left wing Artturi Lehkonen also had his first absence due to an upper-body injury, so captain Gabriel Landeskog moved up to skate with star center Nathan MacKinnon.

Wedgewood and Blackwood shared the William M. Jennings Trophy as the Avalanche had the NHL's best goals against average during the regular season. Wedgewood was 6-0 in the playoffs before giving up three goals in Game 3 to prompt the pull from Bednar early in the second period on Saturday.

Blackwood, who played the entire first-round series last year against Dallas, made 19 saves in Game 4 after stopping 12 of 13 shots in Game 3.

“He went in the net and did exactly what I was hoping he would do,” Bednar said. “He’s had some really strong practices in the last week. He’s had some time to prepare. He’s in tune with what’s going on in the series and done his homework.”

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.