MacKinnon, Rantanen each has 2 points, Avalanche ease past Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Logan O'Connor each had a goal and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-1 win at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

Josh Manson and Jonathan Drouin each had two assists for Colorado (26-16-1), which lost 3-1 at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday but is 8-1-1 in its past 10 games. Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves.

“I really liked a lot of things in our game tonight, and started just with the attention to detail in our game that we felt like was required,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We went over some things this morning that were kind of hurting us over the last three games and I thought the guys did a nice job implementing what we talked about and correcting some of those mistakes.

“And part of it was detail, and part of it was being competitive in the right areas and improving on some of the execution. I thought just overall, really good team effort when it comes to talking, defending, committed with and without the puck. So, really good game from our guys.”

Zach Bogosian scored for Minnesota (26-12-4), which had won four straight. Filip Gustavsson made 21 saves.

“I think that we gifted them some goals,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We were probably in a position where we weren’t going to be give some goals. I think the first two we could have handled better in those situations. And then, you know, I thought we did some decent things. I thought we didn’t have a ton of looks. I thought we had some, but I don’t think they did either. I know they scored six, but I think when you look at Grade A’s either way, it was almost like not a lot going on in the game. And they capitalized on some mistakes we made, and we didn’t capitalize on the ones we had.”

O’Connor made it 1-0 Colorado at 3:46 of the first period, beating Wild defenseman Jon Merrill to the puck with a step coming up the middle.

Ross Colton increased the lead 2-0 at 16:52 after Declan Chisholm flubbed a pass from behind the net right to Colton in front for the putaway.

Bogosian cut the Wild deficit to 2-1 at 18:27, shifting across the top of the slot.

Rantanen extended the Colorado lead to 3-1 at 13:00 of the second period after MacKinnon dropped a pass off the offensive zone entry to Rantanen atop the left circle.

“It's unfortunate they go up 3-1, but we needed to just provide a little bit more and cash in our chances when we can,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “It was close going into the third, and just seemed to get bit a little bit by just chasing it. And we really didn't generate much in the third to come back.”

Parker Kelly made it 4-1 at 4:23 of the third period after Joel Kiviranta skated through a Mats Zuccarello check and found Kelly.

Artturi Lehkonen made it 5-1 with a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 rush with Manson at 7:42, and MacKinnon made it 6-1 with a snap shot from the right circle at 8:47.

“Yeah, it felt good,” Manson said. “I mean, all it was was just two passes, right? I mean, felt my legs were good tonight and I was creating separation which was good. It’s good for my game.”

The Wild were without defensemen Brock Faber (upper-body injury) and Jonas Brodin (lower-body injury), who were added to the list of team injuries following Tuesday’s 6-4 win against the St. Louis Blues.

“Kudos to our forwards, they did a good job putting pressure on their ‘D,” Manson said. “Obviously they’re banged up back there, so that was a key for tonight. Just go pressure the ‘D’ when we can and then try to create offense.”

NOTES: The Wild signed goalie Connor Beaupre to an amateur tryout and he was the designated emergency backup after Marc-Andre Fleury missed the morning skate with an illness. The 30-year-old is the son of former NHL goalie Don Beaupre (1980-1997) and has been the Wild’s emergency goalie since 2017. It’s the first time he suited up in his tenure. ... Drouin returned after missing Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury. … Defenseman David Jiricek had one shot and three hits in 16:01 of ice time in his Wild debut. He was acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 30 and recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Colorado has won five straight against Minnesota.