DENVER — The evolution of Martin Necas as a playoff player could be seen in the Colorado Avalanche’s emphatic 5-2 win Monday against the Minnesota Wild.

As usual, he looked dangerous with the puck, playing with pace and confidence. He was effective offensively, which wasn’t always the case in the playoffs during the talented winger’s five playoff runs with the Carolina Hurricanes. Necas set up Nazem Kadri’s power-play goal.

But his most revealing shift was in the final minute. With the Wild desperately pushing for a tying goal they probably needed to maintain a chance at winning this second-round series, Necas was on the ice for coach Jared Bednar, defending Colorado’s 3-2 lead. He read a rim-around in the defensive zone and beat Quinn Hughes to the puck inside the blue line, sidestepped the Minnesota star and passed to Avalanche linemate Nathan MacKinnon for an empty-net goal.

The move from Carolina at last season’s trade deadline has allowed Necas to grow (and get rich) and improve his reputation as a playoff performer — someone whose offensive game doesn’t shrivel when checking and intensity ramp up, someone who can be trusted defensively.

If the Avalanche eliminate the Wild in Game 5 here Wednesday, they will be halfway to the Stanley Cup. Maybe they’ll meet the Hurricanes in the final, which would be a pretty fabulous matchup.

“I feel like it's just different now,” Necas, 27, told Sportsnet before the series shifted to Minnesota for the weekend. “Obviously, we created some chemistry here with Nate. Last year was hard, but this year it's different. Compared to Carolina, here I’ve got way more room to shine. Obviously, Carolina had their guys and, like, I'm not saying I wasn't one of them. But here, I'm playing on the........

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