Landeskog lifts Avalanche past Wild

DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and two assists for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena on Saturday.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Landeskog said. "They check hard and they don't give up a whole lot, so we had to work for everything we got. I think we did a good job of that. We played well defensively for the most part of the game and we ended up getting the W."
Erik Johnson had a goal and an assist, Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves for Colorado (4-4-0), which has won three of its past four games.
"I liked his game a lot," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of Kuemper. "He was square to the shooter all night. We did a nice job taking care of the rebounds, but he looked confident, he looked out on top of the crease. There wasn't a lot to shoot at and he fought through the traffic pretty well. It was a solid performance for him, for sure."
Ryan Hartman scored, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves for Minnesota (5-3-0), which has lost three of its past four games.
"It's hard to go in and talk to the guys after games like that and say, 'Stay positive. We played great, we just didn't get the results,'" Wild coach Dean Evason said. "But we really did. We did so many really good things in this hockey game. We didn't get the result, but if we can play that type of game, in all three zones, we'll be in good shape."
Landeskog gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 13:03 of the first period, skating between Wild forwards Connor Dewar and Adam Beckman before taking a pass from Andre Burakovsky and beating a lunging Talbot.
Hartman tied 1-1 at 16:54 of the second period with a power-play goal. Marcus Foligno passed from the side of the net to Hartman, whose one-timer from the right hash marks snuck under the right arm of Kuemper.
Johnson scored 40 seconds later to make it 2-1. MacKinnon knocked down Jonas Brodin in the corner and passed to Johnson, who had just come off the bench, for a shot from the top of the left circle.
It was his first goal since March 6, 2020.
"It's been a while with the COVID year and not playing last year (limited to four games because of injury), so it just felt good to get on the board again in front of fans," Johnson said. "It just felt good. It's tough to describe the adrenalin and the feeling when you score a goal like that at home. If you could bottle it up and save it for a bad day, you want to do that. It feels good."

Nazem Kadri increased the lead to 3-1 at 2:54 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Landeskog.
The goal came during a five-minute power play, which the Avalanche were awarded after Wild forward Brandon Duhaime was assessed a game misconduct at 2:34 for cross-checking defenseman Bowen Byram.
Landeskog then scored into an empty net at 17:48 for the 4-1 final.
"We still had some looks at the end, but it's a tough game to keep coming back, obviously," Talbot said. "But we were still in that hockey game late.
"You never want to lose two in a row, and you definitely don't want to lose three. We'll go back home, regroup, have our fans behind us again, and hopefully come up there and play one of our best games of the year so far."
NOTES: Burakovsky sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didn't return. Bednar said the forward is day to day but will be reexamined Sunday. … MacKinnon has nine points (one goal, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. … Beckman had three shots and one block in 10:51 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Wild defenseman Matt Dumba's assist on Hartman's goal was his 200th NHL point (69 goals, 131 assists).