Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday.

The Avalanche lost 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena on Monday. Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado while Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves inclduing two highlight-reel stops. Minnesota's Jake Middleton opened the scoring at 12:18 of the first period with a wrist shot through traffic from the point.

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After a bad loss to Nashville on Saturday, the Wild bounced back with a smart, structured game plan against the rival Avalanche.

With a little over a minute left in the second period, Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon made the Wild look silly when he deked Trenin and tied the game with his 18th goal of the season. It came on just the Avalanche's 11th shot on goal in two periods.

The Colorado Avalanche put up a short performance against division rival Minnesota Wild in their fourth of a five-game homestand. Nathan MacKinnon scores Colorado's lone goal in the 3-1 loss.

Yakov Trenin scored early in the third period and Brock Faber added an insurance goal shortly thereafter to preserve a defensive clinic against Colorado.

MacKinnon is the most likely Avalanche player to take advantage of a Wild defense that is bleeding shots. Not only is he the best shot-generator on the team, but the Wild have allowed the second-most shots to centers in the NHL over the past few weeks.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

T he Colorado Avalanche are looking to get another winning streak with a victory over the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena in their second straight matinee. The first one went very we

The Colorado Avalanche (28-18-1) continue their homestand against the Minnesota Wild (27-15-4) in another matinee matchup at Ball Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:08 p.m. MT. READ MORE: How Will Jared Bednar Spend His Time During 4 Nations?