Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday.

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche for their first season meeting on Thursday evening, Jan. 9. The Wild were still without Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, and Jakub Lauko.

"Yeah, they’re banged up over there," Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson said on the Wild. "That’s not their full team but it’s nice to come into a back-to-back and find that energy, find that burst, especially in the third period, right where you feel like you might be slowing down."

Minnesota took back the lead early in the third period when Jiricek sent a pass in the slot to Trenin, whose snap shot beat Blackwood at 2:08. The Wild added another goal soon after when Faber got a drop pass from Ryan Hartman, skated in between the circles and sent a shot over Blackwood's left shoulder at 3:43.

Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday. Jake Middleton had a goal and an assist, Brock Faber also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for Minnesota.

Some of the issues that looked fixed two days ago in a decisive win against the Dallas Stars were again troubling for the Colorado Avalanche in a loss to the Minnesota Wild.

After a bad loss to Nashville on Saturday, the Wild bounced back with a smart, structured game plan against the rival Avalanche.

The game was tied entering the third period but Trenin gave the Wild a 2-1 lead with a wrister in the slot that beat Mackenzie Blackwood at 2:08.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are scheduled and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups.

Mackenzie Blackwood’s third regulation loss since joining the Avalanche was the first game he allowed more than two goals. Despite making 24 saves on 28 shots, Colorado failed to maintain a three-goal lead and lost 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

For Mackenzie Blackwood, boring is better. Blackwood is one of the best athletes in the NHL, regardless of position. His athleticism allows him to make jaw-dropping, how-did-he-get-that-one saves. His path from prospect to potential Vezina Trophy candidate was non-linear,