Eric Staal scored a tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, and the streaking Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Staal also had an assist, Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist and Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots for the Wild, who have won five in a row after a slow start to the season.
Jonas Brodin scored short-handed on an empty net with 2:43 remaining for what stood as the game-winner after Gabriel Landeskog tallied for the Avalanche with 42 seconds left.
Mark Barberio also scored for Colorado, and Semyon Varlamov had 25 saves. Landeskog's goal was his 10th of the season, tying for the league lead. Mikko Rantanen added his league-leading 16th assist.
With Nikita Zadorov off for high-sticking Jason Zucker, Staal scored his third of the season at 10:16 to break a third-period tie.
Barberio gave the Avalanche the early lead with his first goal of the season. His shot from the half-boards went through the legs of Dubnyk at 5:54 of the first period.
Colorado had a great chance to go up by two goals when it had a 5-on-3 power play early in the second period but couldn't convert.
The Wild got some momentum from the double kill and tied it just after failing to score on their own power play. Granlund cashed in on his own rebound in front of the net with a high, sharp-angle shot that just beat Varlamov.
It was Granlund's fifth of the season.
Colorado was 0-for-6 on the power play. The Avalanche have lost two of their last three.
--Field Level Media
Colorado | Minnesota | |
Mark Barberio 1 | Points | Mikael Granlund 2 |
Mark Barberio 1 | Goals | Mikael Granlund 1 |
Tyson Barrie 1 | Assists | Mikael Granlund 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Eric Staal 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Jonas Brodin 1 |
Semyon Varlamov .926 | Save Percentage | Devan Dubnyk .938 |
Semyon Varlamov 25 | Saves | Devan Dubnyk 30 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Colorado | 32 | 2 | 0-6 | 4-5 | 10 | 27 |
Minnesota | 28 | 3 | 1-5 | 6-6 | 12 | 34 |