DENVER – For the Colorado Avalanche, tonight is when the hard part begins.

Sure, the National Hockey League’s best team dusted the Los Angeles Kings in four games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. But since the season began, and especially since Quinn Hughes moved into the Central Division in December, the Avalanche have known that their playoff path becomes significantly harder in Round 2.

They play Game 1 against Hughes and the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena.

Game 2 is here Tuesday before the series goes on sabbatical for three days before resuming Saturday in St. Paul, Minn.

“I think it's more mental than physical,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after Sunday’s morning skate about ramping up for Round 2 intensity a full week after eliminating the Kings. “Now the challenge, coming back tonight – we’re a well-conditioned team; I trust our guys – but it's about getting engaged mentally and getting engaged physically.

“They're just coming off a hard-fought series. Easier for them to just kind of keep it going, and we’ve got to get back into it. So it's got to happen early. You’ve got to hit and be hit early in the game, and you’ve got to get that emotional level ... intensity where it needs to be.”

The Wild eliminated another top-six team when it finished off the Dallas Stars in six games with a 5-2 win on Thursday.

For months, Colorado knew this series was coming. The Avalanche just didn’t know whether their heavyweight opponent would be the Stars or Wild. Third in the Central Division with 104 points after sputtering a little in the final month of the regular season, the Wild dominated the 112-point........

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