Perhaps the Minnesota Wild left the Pepsi Center feeling it had put the Avalanche far enough in the rearview mirror as not to worry about it any more this season.
The Wild leads the Avs by 11 points (73-62) in the Northwest Division, with 20 games left for Minnesota and 21 for Colorado.
“(Colorado) is a team that we need to keep behind us and get them further down,” said Wild forward Mark Parrish, a one-time Avalanche prospect, “and try to take as much wind out of their sails as we can.”
Still, nobody was doing any obvious chortling in the Wild dressing room.
“There are still a lot of points left on the table,” said forward Mikko Koivu, who scored the game-winning goal. “Let’s play all the games and see where we’re at.”
Streaks continue
Avalanche forwards Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny extended their point streaks to 10 games in the loss.
Sakic has five goals and 18 points in the stretch. Stastny has seven goals and 15 points. Andrew Brunette extended his season-best point streak to eight games.
Footnotes
Mark Rycroft was the lone healthy scratch for the Avalanche. … Antti Laaksonen, whom the Avs recently sent to Albany of the American Hockey League, scored three goals in his first two games for the River Rats, with one assist. … Colorado defenseman Ken Klee broke a 46-game scoring drought with his third-period goal. … Minnesota’s Kim Johnsson played in his 500th game. … Avs general manager Francois Giguere returned to the team after attending NHL GM meetings in Naples, Fla.
