ST. PAUL, MN (AP) — Brandon Saad had a goal and assist to lead a balanced scoring attack and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Saturday night.
Logan O’Connor, Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen and J.T. Compher also scored for Colorado, which has won three straight and four of five to take the West Division lead. Ten players had points, including two assists each for Samuel Girard, Andre Burakovsky and Nathan MacKinnon.
Philipp Grubauer made 19 saves for his NHL-best sixth win.
“They’re the class of the league,” Minnesota’s Zach Parise said. “They play a good style of hockey — they’re fast. The top line is arguably one of the best in the league, so it was a different type of game than we had played in the first eight.”
In the first of four straight games between the teams, Saad scored on a one-timer in the third period for a 4-1 lead, his third straight multipoint game, and Compher later added his first of the year.
Rantanen gave Colorado a 3-1 lead early in the second period with his seventh of the season, weaving around two defenders, cutting across the slot and scoring from the left dot. He is the first player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score in the team’s first five road games.
Rantanen, who entered tied with four others for the league lead in goals, has scored in seven of the past eight outings.
The teams traded fluky goals early.
In his first shift of the season, O’Connor’s long shot deflected off Kahkonen’s stick laying in the crease at 3:02. Dumba answered less than 4 minutes later with a rising wrist shot that went off the mask of Grubauer.
Donskoi scored on the power-play with 15.7 seconds left in the frame.
Colorado was 2 of 7 on the power play and is clicking at 31.1% this season. Its penalty kill was 2 for 2 and has killed off 19 straight shorthanded situations. The Wild are 2 for 36 on the power play this season.
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