The four-game winning streak for the Minnesota Wild came to an end on Saturday night, as they fell to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2, at the Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota had won four straight games coming into the contest with Colorado, but after battling back from a 2-0 second period deficit, the Wild didn’t have enough to keep the streak alive.
Charlie Coyle had a big night in the Wild loss. His two goals were just 40 seconds apart. They were the only two goals for Minnesota on the night, but it wasn’t enough to stop a big night from Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly. He also had a pair of goals including the decisive one.
After a quiet first period that didn’t have a goal, the second was a completely different story.
The Avalanche got on the scoreboard first. Gabriel Landeskog beat Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom to put them on top 1-0. About four minutes later O’Reilly put Colorado on top 2-0.
That second goal seemed to wake the Wild offense up, as Coyle netted two goals to even the score just moments apart. Dany Heatley added a pair of assists on the goals for Minnesota.
O’Reilly did it again in the third as his goal at the 12:44 mark proved to be the difference maker. Maxime Talbot scored an empty net goal in the closing moments to put the game out of reach for the Wild.
Semyon Varlamov played well in net for Colorado, he stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Backstrom didn’t have such a great night for the Wild he stopped just 14 of the 17 shots he faced.
The Pioneer Press reports both goalie Josh Harding and winger Zach Parise are improving. Coach Mike Yeo said Harding has been feeling better and has been back on the ice, and Parise could start skating on his own next week.
Minnesota tries to bounce back on Sunday against the Nashville Predators.
