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.

Between pipes against Minnesota

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.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno, front left, passes the puck as Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, back left, and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood defend in the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday ...

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.

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 (.

Sick and tired of it. We just wanted to win. Tired of losing in the third period,” Jake Middleton said. “Play 40 (minutes) hard and lose in the last 20. Sick and tired of that. So we accomplished

Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno, front left, passes the puck as Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, back left, and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood defends in the first period of an ...

Mackenzie Blackwood had 23 saves ... Middleton's shot from the point got by a screened Blackwood to give Minnesota 1-0 lead at 12:18. The Wild went on the power play twice in the final 4:39 ...

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.

Connor Bedard scored from a seemingly impossible angle in the Blackhawks 4-1 win over the Lightning on Tuesday.