Wild make a mark in the shootout after lead escapes late against Avalanche

The Wild are still waiting for a breakthrough for their offense, but that didn’t prevent them from outscoring the Avalanche.

They outlasted typically potent Colorado 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center to end the Avalanche’s six-game surge while gaining ground in the Western Conference playoff race.

“Goals have been hard to come by,” defenseman Jake Middleton said, “and so stingy defense is what we got working for us.”

With this win, which also split the season series, the Wild moved within three points of Colorado for third place in the Central Division — a spot the Avalanche snatched from the Wild last week. The Wild, in the first wild-card position, are eight points ahead of the Flames, who occupy the second and final wild-card berth.

“We need wins, however we do it,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. “Maybe we gave away one point, but we took two. That’s all that matters.”

Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy converted in the shootout after a tip by Joel Kiviranta spoiled Gustavsson’s shutout bid with 5 minutes, 40 seconds to go in the third period.

Gustavsson was still superb, blocking 27 shots before stopping Nathan MacKinnon in the shootout; Martin Necas whiffed on his try.

Boldy and Zuccarello, along with their center Marco Rossi, were also behind the Wild’s regulation goal.

After Boldy maneuvered an errant Colorado pass to Rossi, he and Zuccarello skated in alone during a 2-on-0 rush that Zuccarello buried with a flick of the wrist at 11:01 of the second period after accepting Rossi’s handoff.

“We played well,” Boldy said. “A lot of chances. I’ve got to score eventually, so the more I keep going, it’s just gonna go in.”

Despite a game-high five shots, Boldy remained goalless for an eighth consecutive game.

“What I really like about Bolds right now is yes, the puck’s not going in for him,” coach John Hynes said, “but his attitude, his competitiveness, playing both sides of the puck strong, continues to get scoring chances.

“He’s not overpassing. He’s doing the things that Bolds needs to do to be a dominant player.”

The goal was Zuccarello’s 15th of the season and 322nd point with the Wild, lifting him past Andrew Brunette for the eighth most in franchise history.

That a snafu would open the scoring wasn’t surprising given how diligently the Wild were skating, and the Avalanche were also attentive even though they were more reserved than usual; this was the second game in as many nights for the team, and Colorado was coming off an emotional victory at home over Chicago that included a bench-clearing celebration for superstar MacKinnon’s 1,000th career point.

MacKinnon, an MVP contender yet again, leads the NHL in scoring with 102 points, but he was held in check by a Wild defense that rarely made life harder on itself.

“Not giving up easy offense, we didn’t do that tonight,” Hynes said.

Even when the team did have a miscue, such as Marcus Foligno’s chip over the boards that led to a delay-of-game penalty early in the second period, the Wild surrendered only two shots and Gustavsson denied both — including getting a piece of a Brock Nelson wind-up with his shoulder before the puck caromed off the crossbar. Nelson, a Warroad, Minn., native who was dealt from the New York Islanders to the Avalanche before last week’s NHL trade deadline, even celebrated like he scored, but the puck stayed out.

“I was a little worried for half a second there,” Gustavsson said. “I was waiting for the buzzer to go off, but it never did.”

Overall, the much-maligned Wild penalty kill went 2-for-2; their power play was 0-for-1.

This was the Wild’s first game against Colorado’s new-look lineup.

BOXSCORE: Wild 2, Avalanche 1 (shootout)

NHL standings

Aside from Nelson, the Avalanche also brought in former Wild forward Charlie Coyle, and the changes haven’t slowed the team: During its recent six-game tear, Colorado racked up 31 goals — a span in which it tallied seven in back-to-back games.

But while the Wild offense has cooled lately — this was the third consecutive game the team maxed out at a single regulation-time goal — the defense has been steady; the Wild had given up only two goals in each of its past two games before allowing empty-netters.

Gustavsson, who was in the right place at the right time all night, was finally eluded on a deflection by Kiviranta.

“It was a fluky goal, right?” Middleton said. “We knew we didn’t give them too much.”

Shootout goals by Zuccarello and Boldy vs. Colorado netminder Mackenzie Blackwood (22 saves) extinguished the Avalanche’s rally, with Zuccarello finishing five-hole and Boldy going to his backhand to help net a well-deserved outcome.

“Coming out of the break,” Hynes said, “that was probably our best game, complete game of what we like to see.”