The Minnesota Wild have been the talk of the hockey world for well over a month. Their goaltending duo of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt has been the backbone of an incredible surge up the standings since starting the season with three wins in their first 12 games.
All of that was mutliplied when general manager Bill Guerin put all of his top assets on the line to acquire sueprstar defenseman Quinn Hughes.
The Wild were on a seven-game winning streak. They were 8-2-0 in their last 10 and 19-3-2 in 24 games. But against the Avalanche on Sunday, they were the second best team.
And it wasn’t even close.
Colorado won 5-1, ending Minnesota’s longest winning streak of the season, just as the Wild did to the Avs’ 10-game streak in a shootout back on Nov. 28.
Nathan MacKinnon made it clear after the game that their group woke up knowing the gravity of this game. They knew it was going to be a test and they took the challenge head on.
That’s probably why the superstars were as good as they were.
From a power play that broke through, to a veteran core than would not be denied. Here’s how the Avs walked into Minnesota and came away with a statement victory and two more points in the standings.
READ MORE: The Aftermath: Avalanche Humble Surging Wild, Extend Winning Streak to 5 Games
10 Observations
1. You’ll recall a few games back that head coach Jared Bednar spoke about how the power play was getting a new look. It wasn’t that the players twere changing, but rather the set up of the man advantage. What they were trying to do wasn’t working, so they opted for a chage.
That change showed glimpses of success, but it hadn’t quite come together. Against the Wild, they figured it out.
Colorado scored twice on four opportunities, one of which was a double-minor, so it ultimately combined two penalties into a lengthy PP. And on the only PP they didn’t score on, which came in the first period, the movement was there, the chances were noticeable, and Brock Nelson even hit the post.
You want your best to show up against the best teams, and the PP did exactly that against Minnesota.
“We executed. We didn’t force a bunch of things that got sent down the ice,” Bednar told reporters. “The decision-making on it was really good. It’s been coming here for the last handful of games since we changed the set, and tonight they got rewarded for it.”
2. How about Gavin Brindley’s fearlessness in the second period? Not only did he go to the net and set up in front against heavier defenders, but he also drew a penalty by keeping his cool until enough was enough. Marcus Foligno cross-checked him several times before Brindley eventually went after him.
The result? Four minutes worth of penalties for the Wild, and none for the Avs. Colorado went on to score more than three minutes later to make it 3-0.
3. In 6:16 of power play time, the Avs had 17 shot attempts and 12 of their 30 shots on goal.
4. Bednar put Landeskog on the top line to help wake up the Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, and MacKinnon trio. He credited Landeskog for looking much better in recent games, but he said he didn’t want to make a change because of how well the second line was playing.
“I think Gabe’s game has really come alive here over the last little while, and I’ve been hesitant to change it because I like what he’s doing with Nelly and Val,” Bednar said.
Landeskog joined the top line, and Lehkonen was demoted to the second line. The captain ended with two assists, albeit one of them was on the power play. He has 14 points in his last 19 games, and played more than 20 minutes for the second straight game.
5. Speaking of Nelson, he chose a great game, in front of the right opposing GM, to put up a goal and two primary assists. Guerin is also GM of Team USA for the upcoming Winter Olympics and Nelson, after a slow start to the season, is looking more like a sure bet than he did eight weeks ago.
Nelson has 19 points in his last 18 games. He’s been unbelievable for more than half the season now.
6. Makar also must have had added motivation for going up against Hughes. He had his first three-point game since Nov. 20 (15 games ago), and he did it by dominating the Wild at both five-on-five and on the PP.
Through two periods, Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar have been on the ice for 6:16 at 5-on-5 against each other.
The Avalanche have an expected goals-for percentage of 99.27% in that 6:16.
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) December 22, 2025
7. The Wild are one of the stingiest teams in the league as of late and have climbed all the way up to third in both the Central Division and the NHL (although that likely won’t be the case after this regulation loss). They don’t often up a lot of chances, or shots.
Against the Avs, this season, they’ve given up 41, and 42. They managed a shootout win the first time, but they couldn’t hold back the Avalanche’s offensive this time around.
Jesper Wallstedt, specifically, has only faed 40+ shots three times in his career, and these two games against Colorado are two of them.
8. Colorado has now ended three winning streaks of seven or more games this season.
9. I’ll have more on Valeri Nichushkin in the coming days. These last two games have been legendary performances from the Avs’ top-six forward. He’s been a defensive stalwart while pitching in offensively when it’s necessary.
10. The third line still hasn’t seen much success since Ross Colton was moved to center. All three guys have played well on the wing this year, but together as a line, it’s not meshing. I wonder what Bednar (or perhaps Chris MacFarland) do to remedy this.
