It was billed as a meeting of the NHL’s two hottest teams. But after a choppy 60 minutes of hockey in downtown St. Paul, one of them had cooled off considerably.
The Colorado Avalanche solidified their lead atop the Central Division on Sunday, emphatically, building a commending lead and giving Minnesota Wild fans precious little to cheer about. The home team’s seven-game win streak came to a sudden halt as Colorado won 5-1, thanks in large part to a pair of Nathan MacKinnon goals.
Ryan Hartman scored for the Wild, his fifth goal in the past six games, and goalie Jesper Wallstedt had 37 saves in the Wild’s first home loss in regulation since before Halloween. Their now-ended streak of 14 consecutive home games with at least a point (12-0-2) was a franchise record.
Both teams had early, fruitless power plays, and both teams had scoring chances that just barely didn’t pan out. Wild forward Vinnie Hinostroza had an early breakaway thwarted, while Colorado forward Brock Nelson clanked the goalpost with a first-period shot.
Colorado’s dangerous top line got rolling in the offensive zone late in the first, pinning the Wild defenders in deep, and getting the first goal when Martin Necas was uncovered in the slot and beat Wallstedt with a snap shot.
The Avalanche looked to have doubled the lead when former Lakeville South standout Sam Malinski swatted a loose puck behind Wallstedt. The Wild challenged the play, successfully, for offside entering the zone, and the goal came off the scoreboard.
Minnesota got its second power play of the night midway through the middle frame when Hartman took a cross check to the face. On the man advantage, the Wild got good pressure on the Colorado net but again could not break through. Instead it was Colorado getting a power play goal to double the lead when MacKinnon scored for an NHL-leading 29th time this season.
When Colorado got a four-minute power play later in the second, Minnesota killed three-fourths of it, only to see the Avalanche take a commanding lead on a Cale Makar blast from the blue line.
Hartman finally gave the sellout crowd a reason to cheer early in the third, going to the net and popping in a loose puck after Jonas Brodin’s long-range shot was knocked down in the crease. But former Warroad star Brock Nelson answered with a quick shot past Wallstedt, and MacKinnon added a late empty-net goal.
Mackenzie Blackwood had 28 saves for Colorado, which hosts the Wild on Feb. 26 at Ball Arena in Denver.
The Wild close out the pre-Christmas part of their schedule on Tuesday, hosting the Nashville Predators in a 7 p.m. game. It will be their last taste of home cooking for a while. With Grand Casino Arena hosting the World Junior Championship, the Wild will embark on a seven-game, two-week road trip starting Dec. 27 in Winnipeg.
Briefly
As a part of the Minnesota franchise’s ongoing 25-season celebration, the team had a quartet of former captains – Richard Park, Antti Laaksonen, Brad Bombardir and Wes Walz – drop the ceremonial first puck before Sunday’s game. Park, who is now a professional scout for the Wild, scored the first playoff overtime goal in franchise history on April 21, 2003, in a 3-2 win over Colorado in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. The Wild won Game 7 in overtime a day later, for Minnesota’s first playoff series victory.
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