The Colorado Avalanche moved into the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 2-1 victory over Minnesota Wild.

Jose Theodore stopped 34 shots including nine in the final period to eliminate the Wild and give the Avalanche the series four games to two.

"He (Theodore) was unbelievable. He was the difference," Avs center Ben Guite said after Colorado became the first Western Conference team to win an opening-round playoff series.

"He was just great the whole series, but especially the last two games," added Colorado standout Peter Forsberg.

In other playoff games on Saturday, the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals both secured victories to avoid elimination.

Boston scored four third-period goals to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 and force a game seven with the series tied 3-3.

Washington beat Philadelphia 3-2 to narrow the Flyers' series lead to 3-2.

Ryan Smyth's second-period goal broke a 1-1 tie at Denver and the Avalanche held on to defeat the Northwest Division champion Wild.

Guite's short-handed goal 8:02 into the opening period put Colorado ahead 1-0. The Wild evened the score in the second period. Aaron Voros got the goal 36 seconds into the period.

"It was exciting to be a part of this," David Jones, who assisted on Smyth's winning goal, said.

"We were down at one point (2-1) in the series, but we didn't get down. We kept working, and Jose bailed us out when we needed him."

Reuters