Nichushkin last played Jan. 10 prior to entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 15 and missing 22 games.
Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to extend his season-opening home point streak to 32 games, and Artturi Lehkonen scored for Avalanche (40-20-5), who have won three straight and four of their past five games. Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves.
MacKinnon has 71 points (26 goals, 46 assists) during his streak, which is tied with Guy Lafleur (1978-79) for the third-longest in NHL history and the longest since Wayne Gretzky 33-game home streak in 1985-86. Gretzky owns the NHL record for the longest season-opening home point streak at 40 games (Los Angeles Kings, 1988-89).
Brock Faber scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 39 saves for the Wild (30-27-7), who were coming off a 5-2 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday and had won two straight.
Lehkonen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead 40 seconds into the first period, receiving a backhand pass from MacKinnon from behind the net and tucking it five-hole.
Faber tied it 1-1 at 10:44 of the second period with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
Mats Zuccarello missed a penalty shot at 14:05 of the third period off the side of the net after Andrew Cogliano shoveled a broken stick at him while he had the puck.
Devon Toews appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal at 17:40 of the third period, but Minnesota successfully challenged the play for offsides and the goal was overturned after video review.
