SAINT PAUL – This doesn’t look like a Colorado Avalanche team that needs any extra motivation, but Jesper Wallstedt may have made a rookie mistake in giving them some.

“It kind of says that we’re a better team than them,” Wallstedt said after the Wild beat the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout in November. “We beat them, so that felt good.”

On Sunday, they were certainly not a better team, as the Avalanche dominated on their way to a 5-1 win in Minnesota. Whether or not the Avalanche used that as extra motivation remains to be seen.

“I had no idea,” Nathan MacKinnon said of Wallstedt’s quote after Sunday’s win.

“Yeah, I mean, if it does, it is what it is. Just extra motivation for us,” Cale Makar said. “I don’t think anybody really cares, really talks about that. I think for us, the main thing is we want the points. We’re working toward(s) just getting better as a team moving forward and getting better every night, making sure that we take advantage of these high-stakes games early in the season.”

To Wallstedt’s credit, he was the reason this game wasn’t a bigger blowout. Through 40 minutes, the Avalanche were outshooting the Wild 34-20 and even-strength shot attempts were 47-28 in favor of Colorado. The rookie might learn to not say anything like that in public that could motivate the best team in the NHL, though.

And on Sunday, the Avalanche certainly looked like the best team in the NHL. The Wild entered the game with a seven-game winning streak. They exited with that streak coming to a screeching halt. It was the second half of a back-to-back for Minnesota, so not an easy task to deal with a rested Colorado group, but it was clear this game meant a little more for the Avalanche.

“It was a big one,” MacKinnon said after the win. “It’s a tough back-to-back, Edmonton and then us, but sometimes you feel good on the second day so you never know what we were going to get. We were definitely excited for this, had a good meeting this morning and just wanted to outplay them and get this win. We did that.”

This was Colorado’s first look at Quinn Hughes in a Wild jersey. Makar called Hughes an “unbelievable player” after the game. There’s no denying that.

Although Cale would never admit it, it does feel like he gets up for these games against Hughes, the man many believe to be the second-best defenseman in the NHL. It looked like the Calgary native had even more pep in his step on Sunday.

He finished the night with a goal, two assists and a game-high seven shots on goal, but he was equally impressive in the defensive zone, using his stick to break up several dangerous chances for the Wild. Some of those defensive-zone break-ups came on the penalty kill, a spot Hughes is typically not used in. And Makar’s impact is backed up by the numbers.

Through two periods before the Avalanche started to sit back in the third, Colorado held a whopping 99.27% expected goals-for percentage when both Makar and Hughes were on the ice. Sure, there are four other players out there for each team, but that’s a staggering number.

“I thought Cale was great. There was an intensity to his game that was outstanding,” Jared Bednar said after the game. “I don’t know that that was about Quinn Hughes. We challenged our team tonight because this is a good measuring stick game for us, right? And they’re important points…it’s required that you give a little bit more than you do in a normal game. And I would say, to a man tonight, that we did that.”

Colorado’s entire team came to play. There was not a single passenger on the ice for the Avalanche. Valeri Nichushkin may have been their most effective forward, and their third line had its best game since being put back together.

This team is led by their superstars, and it’s no surprise that they were up to the challenge in Minnesota on Sunday.

“We knew that this was a big game,” Makar said. “Guys were excited and got ready for it.”