The Wild needed that one. Still missing Kirill Kaprizov and a few other key players due to injuries, Minnesota went into Denver and beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday afternoon, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.

MacKinnon is the most likely Avalanche player to take advantage of a Wild defense that is bleeding shots. Not only is he the best shot-generator on the team, but the Wild have allowed the second-most shots to centers in the NHL over the past few weeks.

The Wild kept a high-powered Avalanche offense to the outside, for the most part, holding them to 11 shots through two periods. At one point, Colorado had just one shot over a 15 1/2 minute stretch. Minnesota was much better at exiting their own zone.