EditorsNote: adds "of the second period" in fifth graf; changes to "fifth" in eighth graf
Nico Sturm scored twice, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist each, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 on Wednesday night in Denver.
Zach Parise also scored, Kaapo Kahkonen had 30 saves and Kirill Kaprizov added two assists for Minnesota, which has won four straight.
J.T. Compher and Nazem Kadri scored and Philipp Grubauer stopped 19 shots for the Avalanche.
The Wild scored midway through the first period to take the early lead. Minnesota entered the offensive zone on a three-on-one, and Kaprizov sent a pass across to Zuccarello, who beat Grubauer with a sharp-angle shot at 9:44. It was his third of the season.
Colorado broke through when Compher got a pass from Samuel Girard as he came down the right side, and his quick shot beat Kahkonen at 7:21 of the second period.
The Wild answered with two quick ones. Parise gave Minnesota the lead when he set up on the left side of the net and tipped in a pass from Matt Dumba at 12:31. It was his third goal of the season and the 800th point of his career.
Less than three minutes later, Foligno made it a two-goal lead when he got a pass from Hartman as he came down the slot and beat Grubauer at 15:11 for a short-handed goal. It was his fourth tally of the season.
The Avalanche got one back on the power play when Mikko Rantanen fed Kadri near the top of the right circle, and he blasted a shot past Kahkonen three minutes into the third period to make it 3-2. It was his fifth of the season.
Colorado had a couple of chances to get the equalizer before the Wild broke it open with two goals within a span of 1:03. Hartman got the first when he tipped a pass over Grubauer's shoulder at 11:56, his third of the season.
Sturm then beat Grubauer between the legs on a breakaway at 12:59, and then added an empty-net goal at 17:32 for his first two goals of the season.
--Field Level Media
