Matt Boldy scored the decisive goal in the shootout round to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Kirill Kaprizov scored both goals in regulation for Minnesota, which won its seventh game in a row. Mats Zuccarello also scored during the shootout round for the Wild.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist for Colorado, whose 10-game winning streak ended. Martin Necas scored the lone goal during the shootout round for the Avalanche, who earned one point in the standings by forcing the game to overtime.
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 39 of 41 shots in regulation and overtime, and he turned aside two of three attempts in the shootout round.
Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 35 of 37 shots in regulation and overtime, but he stopped only one of three attempts in the final round.
The Avalanche opened the scoring with 5:06 to go in the first period. MacKinnon cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net by blasting in a shot from the front of the crease.
The play marked MacKinnon’s league-leading 19th goal in 24 games this season. He has scored in back-to-back games, and he has five goals in his past five games.
The Wild pulled even at 1-all with eight minutes to go in the second period. Kaprizov deflected in a shot from the low slot for the 200th goal of his career.
Kaprizov struck again to put the Wild up 2-1 with 1:57 left in the second period. Ryan Hartman turned down a shot, skated behind the net and fed a pass toward Kaprizov, who fired a one-timer from just inside the right circle for his second goal of the game and 16th of the season.
Colorado battled back to even the score at 2-all with 8:52 remaining in the third period. Gabriel Landeskog got knocked down behind the net but got back up on his skates, received a pass from MacKinnon and muscled in a shot from the right side of the crease.
–Field Level Media
