Zach Parise scores opening night hat trick against Avalanche to spark Wild comeback

Down 3-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in the second period, it looked as though the Minnesota Wild were well on their way to starting the 2015-16 campaign with a loss. Even after Zach Parise scored Minnesota’s first goal of the season to make it 3-1 with 13 minutes left in the second frame, things looked bleak. It looked even worse when John Mitchell put the Avalanche up 4-1.

But then Parise scored his second of the night early in the third, which was followed shortly thereafter with a goal by Nino Niederreiter and another by Thomas Vanek. In less than half a frame, the Wild had dug out of a 4-1 hole and brought the season-opening contest against the Avalanche level.

With the game tied 4-4, Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog was whistled for interfering with Jason Pominville, giving Minnesota a power play while they had all the momentum. And on that power play, Parise capped what was an incredible opening night on for both he and the Wild:

The Wild clung to the 5-4 lead and turned what, during the second period, looked like the makings of a surefire loss into a victory to open the campaign. According to Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota’s four third-period goals were the fastest four goals in team history, clocking in at 5:07.

The hat trick on opening night for Parise was the 49th in league history, per NHL.com. In 2014-15, Anaheim’s Corey Perry opened the season with a hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game the Ducks lost.

Check out the Wild’s full comeback — and all three of Parise’s goals — below: