Nathan MacKinnon Leads Avalanche Past Wild, 5-1.

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice while Cale Makar and Brock Nelson each recorded a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Sunday night (Hillesheim). Martin Necas also contributed a goal, and Gabriel Landeskog added two assists for Colorado, extending the team’s winning streak to five games. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves for the Avalanche. For Minnesota, Ryan Hartman scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 37 saves. The Wild suffered their first loss in eight games and their first regulation defeat at home since Nov. 1 . MacKinnon opened the scoring in the second period with a power-play goal, finishing a feed from Nelson to put Colorado up 2-0. He later added an empty-net goal, marking his 30th goal of the season and his eighth goal in the past eight games. With 61 points in 35 games, MacKinnon tied Peter and Marian Stastny for the fewest games needed to reach 60 points in Avalanche/Nordiques history.

Makar extended Colorado’s lead to 3-0 with a wrist shot from the top of the slot on a power play. Hartman scored early in the third period, narrowing the gap to 3-1, but Nelson sealed the victory with a goal with 4:08 remaining. Necas scored the game’s first goal in the opening period, converting a pass from Makar. 1Early in the second period, Sam Malinski appeared to score, which would have made it 2-0, but the goal was overturned on a successful offside challenge by Minnesota. The Wild have now won all three of their coach’s challenges this season.