National Hockey League
Colorado 4, Minnesota 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 30, 2021
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Referees: Jake Brenk, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Trent Knorr
Attendance: 17708

Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and two assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in Denver.

Erik Johnson had a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri also scored a goal for Colorado, which won back-to-back games for the first time this season while getting back to the .500 mark (4-4-0). Nathan MacKinnon and J.T. Compher each added two assists, and Darcy Kuemper finished with 29 saves.

Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota, which lost the final two games of its three-game western road trip. Cam Talbot stopped 27 of 30 shots.

Colorado, which handed Central Division leading St. Louis its first loss of the season on Thursday, took a 1-0 lead at the 13:03 mark of the first period. Landeskog tallied his third goal of the season at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play with MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky, firing a wrist shot past Talbot's blocker side from the slot.

Minnesota tied it, 1-1, early in the second period on Hartman's fourth goal of the season. The score, which came on a one-timer from the slot off a Marcus Foligno pass from the goal line, snapped an 0-for-14 power-play streak for the Wild.

The Avalanche regained the lead just 40 seconds later on Johnson's first goal of the season. MacKinnon set up the play with a hard check on Jonas Brodin to win the puck in the left corner. MacKinnon then hit Johnson with a pass at the top of the left circle, where he fired a wrist shot past Talbot's blocker side.

Colorado extended the lead to 3-1 early in the third period on Kadri's third goal of the season. The score came 29 seconds into a five-minute power play for the Avalanche after Wild forward Brandon Duhaime drew a major for cross-checking Bo Byram into the end boards.

The Wild pulled Talbot for an extra attacker with 2:45 to go and Landeskog sealed the win with an empty-net goal 33 seconds later.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Colorado
Ryan Hartman 1 Points Gabriel Landeskog 4
Ryan Hartman 1 Goals Gabriel Landeskog 2
Matt Dumba 1 Assists Gabriel Landeskog 2
Ryan Hartman 1 Power Play Goals Nazem Kadri 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Cam Talbot .900 Save Percentage Darcy Kuemper .967
Cam Talbot 27 Saves Darcy Kuemper 29
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Minnesota 30 1 1-2 3-4 21 33
Colorado 31 4 1-4 1-2 6 29
Upcoming Games
  • Colorado will play their next game at home against Columbus. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Wild have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .667 after a loss.