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.

A man suspected of car theft who police say was fleeing on foot on an Interstate 94 onramp was shot and injured Sunday afternoon by officers after he pulled out a handgun and allegedly pointed it at police officers, according to the St. Paul police department.

St. Paul police gave the following details:

About 3 p.m. General Motors notified police that a vehicle stolen out of Minneapolis was heading towards St. Paul on I-94. The car company was monitoring the car and at about 3:15 p.m. was able to remotely slow the vehicle to a stop on the westbound I-94 onramp from Highway 52.

A man who was driving the car and a female passenger exited the vehicle and began to run away on foot. As the man ran, he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at officers.

Officers fired their service weapons and the man was struck once in the leg. He was taken to Regions Hospital for treatment of a non-life threatening injury. The female was taken into custody a short time later. No officers or bystanders were injured.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating.

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Rookie Sarah Wozniewicz scored her first goal with 65 seconds left in overtime to rally the Ottawa Charge to a 3-2 victory over the two-time defending-champion Minnesota Frost on Sunday at Allstate Arena in a continuation of the PWHL’s Takeover Tour.

Wozniewicz secured an assist from Peyton Hemp to score the winner for the Charge (1-1-0-5) at 3:55 in the 5-minute OT.

Ottawa took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on a power-play goal by Ronja Savolainen — with assists from Kateřina Mrázová and Jocelyne Larocque.

The Frost (3-0-1-2) pulled even midway through the second on Britta Curl-Salemme’s second goal. Kelly Pannek earned her fourth assist, and Mae Batherson picked up her second.

Brianne Jenner found the net for the third time this season, beating goalie Nicole Hensley with 4 seconds left to put the Charge up 2-1 heading into the final period. First-round pick Rory Guilday recorded her fourth assist on the power-play goal, and Rebecca Leslie notched her third.

Batherson, a defender, scored her first career goal and knotted the game at 2-all four minutes into the final period on a power play — with another assist from Pannek and one from Kendall Cooper — her third.

Gwyneth Philips finished with 21 saves in goal for Ottawa — one in OT. Three of Hensley’s 19 saves came in the extra period.

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PHOENIX — When the Gophers football team woke up Sunday morning, outdoor temperatures in were in the single digits in Minnesota. But when their flight touched down in the afternoon, they were greeted with 75-degree weather in the Valley of the Sun.

That’s one of the biggest perks of the playing in the Rate Bowl in Arizona in December.

Head coach P.J. Fleck prides his program on not allowing the “circumstances affect their behavior,” but they couldn’t help themselves given their shivering amid a snowy and cold winter back home.

“Coming from Minnesota, our guys are so excited to be here, truly helped bowl prep as well knowing we were going to some place really warm,” Fleck said at the airport. “We’re so excited to be here.”

Minnesota (7-5) are a 2.5-point favorite against New Mexico (9-3) for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff Friday at Chase Field. The U came out a day before the Lobos were set to arrive in Phoenix.

The Gophers sold roughly 4,000 tickets in an allotment fans when Minnesota beat West Virginia 18-6 in the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix. This year’s total for the U might end up being lower than four years ago, but it was trending to be more than New Mexico.

Albuquerque is approximately six hours from Phoenix.

Stars coming back?

The Gophers posted a photo of star defensive end Anthony Smith in a helmet and shoulder pads on Saturday with the title “Final Practice in Dinkytown.” It appears to be an indication the Big Ten’s second-leading tackler will play in bowl game.

On Sunday, Fleck continues to express confidence that Minnesota can retain its key players for 2026, including Smith and safety Koi Perich.

Without naming names, Fleck said: “Got to finish up one or two more, and I really love what we’ve done.”

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