Wild fall to Colorado, return from road trip with nothing but a three-game losing streak

DENVER – Compared with the disjointed jumble they were the night before, the Wild debuted like a jigsaw against the Avalanche.

They were cohesive and competitive, skating night-and-day better than when they were dumped by five goals Thursday by Utah Hockey Club. But there’s a difference between improving from a clunker to a non-playoff team and one-upping a contender like Colorado, and that was evident when the Wild eventually caved 5-2 Friday night at Ball Arena to go home emptyhanded from their road trip and on a three-game losing streak.

“The last two games we’ve found numerous ways to beat ourselves,” coach John Hynes said. “We talk a lot about playing a smart game, the details of the game. We didn’t have it in these two games at a high enough level, and it cost us.”

A pair of goals in 52 seconds during a second period controlled by the Avalanche separated them from the Wild for good, turning a 2-1 advantage for the Wild into a 3-2 deficit that was extended before the period ended in a 12-4 shot mismatch.

Four Colorado players scored — none named Nathan MacKinnon — and 11 had at least a point, including goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who also made 19 saves as the Avalanche moved into a tie with the Wild in the Central Division at 72 points.

“Everything seems to tighten up at this point in time,” captain Jared Spurgeon said. “So, you’ve just gotta get back to our winning ways.”

The Wild held on to third place only because they’ve played one fewer game, but the pressure is on to protect their position — while dealing with another injury.

Zach Bogosian (lower body) did not suit up. He’s considered day-to-day. Jon Merrill took Bogosian’s place, but the Wild made other changes: Brendan Gaunce drew in for Devin Shore on the fourth line, and the top two lines were shuffled, and that worked for the Wild early on: Marcus Johansson fed a wide-open Mats Zuccarello in front just 4:14 into the first for Zuccarello’s first goal in 10 games.

By 13:58, Colorado answered back on the power play, a one-timer from Valeri Nichushkin in the slot set up by MacKinnon.

With 2:18 left in the first, the Wild reclaimed the lead with their own power-play goal when Vinnie Hinostroza tipped in a Brock Faber shot. The goal was Hinostroza’s third in six games with the Wild since getting claimed off waivers from Nashville. But the Wild couldn’t maintain this momentum, sputtering in the second period while the Avalanche rallied.

“You look at the attention to detail you need to win games combined with the competitive effort,” Hynes said, “and ours wasn’t at a level we needed.”

BOXSCORE: Avalanche 5, Wild 2

NHL standings

At 8:57, Jonathan Drouin buried a breakaway for the equalizer before Jack Drury delivered the tiebreaker 52 seconds later on a backhander that eluded Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson and defenseman Declan Chisholm, who ended up behind Gustavsson in the crease during a scramble.

Then with 5:21 to go, Ross Colton finished off a 2-on-1 pass that still reached him despite Jonas Brodin getting a piece of the puck but not enough to stop the rush.

After that, the Avalanche played keep-away from the Wild, hemming them in their zone until the waning seconds of the period; captain Jared Spurgeon was stuck on the ice for 2:57, while Jake Middleton’s shift topped out at 3:02.

“They were just quicker in transitions,” Gustavsson said. “It felt like they came in 3-on-2s, 4-on-3s, and they were just all over us. If you get stuck in your own zone in the second period, it’s tough for especially the D-men to get stuck around for a very long, and they took advantage of it.”

The Wild had two power-play opportunities in the third period but blanked on both; not only that, they didn’t even register a shot on Colorado’s net. They went 1-for-3, and the Avalanche were 2-for-3 after Colton added an empty-netter with eight seconds remaining for his second goal of the night.

Brodin didn’t finish the game, leaving after only one shift in the third; Hynes didn’t have an update.

Gustavsson totaled 25 saves, and the Wild dropped to 3-9-1 vs. the Western Conference’s elite in Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas and Winnipeg.

They’ll have one more crack at the Avalanche on March 11 at Xcel Energy Center.

“We just did it to ourselves,” Spurgeon said. “Plays that need to be made that we didn’t make, and they’re a very good transition team.

“They capitalized on some mistakes that we made that you can’t be making at this time of year.”