MacKinnon Scores, Adds Shootout Winner as Avalanche Defeats Wild 3-2

Win Against the Wild

Nathan MacKinnon scored his 43rd goal and added the shootout winner to help the Avalanche defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Sunday at Ball Arena. Nicolas Roy scored his first goal with the Avs, Nazem Kadri posted an assist in his 2025-26 Avalanche debut and Valeri Nichushkin added a shootout goal. In net for the Avalanche, Scott Wedgewood stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced.

"Emotional seeing the support I get here," Kadri said. "It’s absolutely incredible. It makes me want to play harder for these fans and this team.”

With the win, the Avalanche improved to 43-10-9.

"I liked our game a lot," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought our checking game was in order. They're (Minnesota) going to create some chances. They're a good team. They have a lot of skill. But, I thought we checked really well. [In the] first period, I thought we were really dangerous. [In the] second period, we started out the same way. So, I would go past the 30-minute mark where I was really happy with our game. We extended some shifts late in the second [period], and they kind of kept us in our zone too much. But, I thought we did a nice job defending [and] keeping the high-danger chances to a minimum. And then it was kind of [an] evenly-matched third [period], right? We give up the lead and had to go get it back. But, everyone was contributing throughout our lineup, regardless of how much ice time they got, they stayed ready and focused and we find a way to get it done. So, I have no complaints really about the way we played tonight, especially at the end of this stretch of games that we're on and the road trip we're coming back from. I thought it was a well played game."

How It Happened

MacKinnon opened the scoring at 12:19 of the second period with his 43rd goal of the season via a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle assisted by Nazem Kadri, who intercepted Quinn Hughes' pass below the goal line to start the play. That was the 24th goal that MacKinnon and Kadri have combined on in their careers.

Kirill Kaprizov tied the game for Minnesota on the power play at 4:17 of the third period when his pass from the right circle deflected into the net.

The Wild took a 2-1 lead with at 7:01 of the third period when Nico Sturm scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway.

Roy tied the game at 12:39 of the third period with his sixth goal of the season via a net-front deflection on Brett Kulak's left-circle slap shot. Before scoring, Roy made a great play along the wall to pass the puck to Joel Kiviranta,

In the shootout, Nichushkin scored for Colorado in the first round, Minnesota's Matt Boldy scored in the second round and MacKinnon tallied the winner for the Avs in the fourth round.

Next Up

The Avalanche concludes its two-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday at 8 p.m. MT on TNT, TruTV, HBO Max and Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.