Between pipes against Minnesota

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 (.

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.

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.

With a big two points on the line, the Avalanche came out flat in each period and had one of their worst low-event offensive games of the season.

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.

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.

The Minnesota Wild’s injured and struggling defensive lineup is old news, but Bill Geurin and John Hynes learned from last season’s similar issues and planned ahead. David Jiricek is one contingency plan that has panned out.

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.

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.

In 62 previous regular-season matchups against the Jets, the Avalanche are 29-26-7. This season, the home teams are undefeated, with the Jets winning in Winnipeg on November 7 and January 11 while the Avs won in Denver on December 31.