Wild snap three-game skid with impressive road win over Avalanche

The Wild needed that one. Still missing Kirill Kaprizov and a few other key players due to injuries, Minnesota went into Denver and beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday afternoon, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.

After a stretch with six wins in seven contests, the Wild had lost four of their last five coming into this matinee showdown against their Central Division rivals. That included an embarrassing 6-1 home loss against Colorado on Jan. 9. They made sure Monday's game had a much different result.

Notably, none of the Wild's three goals came from their top line of Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Mats Zuccarello. Jake Middleton had a goal and an assist, Liam Ohgren delivered two assists, and Yakov Trenin and Brock Faber scored less than two minutes apart early in the third period to help Minnesota pull away.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for the Wild (28-15-4). With the win, they have 60 points, three more than the Avalanche (28-19-1) on one fewer game played. Minnesota moves one point ahead of the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central.

After a slow start without many scoring chances, the Wild got on the board first when Ohgren set up Middleton for the defenseman's seventh goal of the season. It was the first point this season for Ohgren, Minnesota's 2022 first-round pick who was playing in his 14th NHL game.

The normally high-powered Avs had just four shots on goal in the first period. They kept their early deficit at one thanks to a couple excellent saves from Mackenzie Blackwood on Wild power plays. Blackwood flat-out robbed David Jiricek at the end of the opening period and then Eriksson Ek in the second. 

With a little over a minute left in the second period, Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon made the Wild look silly when he deked Trenin and tied the game with his 18th goal of the season. It came on just the Avalanche's 11th shot on goal in two periods.

The difference in this contest came when the Wild struck twice in quick succession to get some separation early in the final period. Jiricek made a great play off the side wall and then dropped a pass off to Trenin, who fired home his fourth goal to cap a great Minnesota shift in the offensive zone. Ohgren got the secondary assist. It was an excellent afternoon for Jiricek, the 21-year-old defenseman acquired by the Wild via trade in late November.