Cale Makar and Brock Nelson Post Matching One-Goal, Three-Point Games as Avalanche Defeats Wild 5-1

Success in St. Paul

Cale Makar and Brock Nelson each posted a goal and two assists as the Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 at Grand Casino Arena on Sunday. Additionally, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, Martin Necas added a tally and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced. On special teams, Colorado went 2/4 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill.

"It was good," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said about the team's power play. "I thought it worked at a pace that I liked. Not just moving the puck, but also the shot mentality. And they executed. And we didn't force a bunch of things that got sent down the ice. When we got possession, it was work-based, but the decision-making on it was really good. And then when we needed to check it back, we did a good job staying on pucks and keeping some alive as well."

With the win, the Avalanche improved to 26-2-7.

How It Happened

Necas opened the scoring at 18:28 of the first period with his 16th goal of the season via a one-timer from the slot set up by Makar, who received Landeskog's drop pass and danced in the right circle before picking up the primary assist.

Colorado doubled its lead on the power play at 13:37 of the second period when MacKinnon scored his 29th goal of the season via a one-timer from the slot set up by Brock Nelson's feed. With that goal, MacKinnon became the first player in the NHL to record 60 points this season and tied the franchise record for the fewest games reach that mark (35 games).

At 18:33 of the second period, Makar gave the Avs a 3-0 lead on the power play with his 11th goal of the season via a shot from the point.

Ryan Hartman put the Wild on the board at 5:15 of the third period with a shot from the right doorstep.

Nelson gave the Avs a 4-1 lead at 15:52 of the third period with his 14th goal of the season via a right-circle one-timer set up by Samuel Girard.

At 17:35 of the third period, MacKinnon became the first player this season to reach 30 goals with his second tally of the game via an empty-net tally to give the Avs a 5-1 lead.

Next Up

The Avalanche hosts the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT on Altitude, Altitude+ and Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM.