Between pipes against Minnesota

Some of the issues that looked fixed two days ago in a decisive win against the Dallas Stars were again troubling for the Colorado Avalanche in a loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Although Blackwood has been largely successful since joining the Avalanche, he was charged with a second consecutive loss Monday as he wasn't particularly sharp against Minnesota. The 28-year-old has allowed seven goals on 50 shots (.

Mackenzie Blackwood only let in one goal on the one-month anniversary of the day he was traded to the Avalanche. And the team playing in front of him — the one that feels confident with the new goalie manning the crease — scored six times against a divisional rival sitting ahead of them in the Central.

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.

Yakov Trenin and Brock Faber scored goals 1:35 apart early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 in Denver on Monday.

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

Sick and tired of it. We just wanted to win. Tired of losing in the third period,” Jake Middleton said. “Play 40 (minutes) hard and lose in the last 20. Sick and tired of that. So we accomplished

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.

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 couldn't find their offense and dropped an important divisional game to the Minnesota Wild, losing 3-1.

Ah, goaltending. A hot topic, no matter the occasion. The 4 Nations Face-Off is about three weeks away. No matter your opinion on the event’s existence, it should be an exciting display of hockey.