SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Everyone on the Avalanche might be a little sick of hearing about how bad their power play is. On Sunday, in perhaps the biggest game of the season to date for the Avalanche, the power play came through in a big way, propelling Colorado to a 5-1 victory over the red-hot Minn esota Wild. The victory by the Avalanche snapped Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak. It was a dominant performance from the Avalanche, who controlled the majority of play at even strength all night long, outshooting the Wild 42-29. The power play (and penalty kill) were what changed the game, though. Colorado’s power play on the road has been heating up, but Sunday was easily their best performance. Even on the man advantages they didn’t score, they were dangerous. In the second period, their hard work paid off. An offensive zone faceoff win by Nathan MacKinnon led to the superstar forward scoring on a power play just a few seconds later. That was power-play goal No. 1, and with Marcus Foligno in the box late in the third due to not one but two penalties, the Avalanche made the Wild pay. Again. Gabriel Landeskog sent the puck to Brock Nelson, who left it for Cale Makar. The star defenseman used a pile of bodies in front of Jesper Wallstedt to beat the Wild goaltender up high, giving the Avalanche the 3-0 lead and all but sealing the game for Colorado. This marks just the third game this season the Avalanche have scored multiple power-play goals in one game, and it’s something they feel like they’ve been building toward. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s been that bad lately. It’s just a couple went in,” MacKinnon said. “Sometimes you see some bounces and hopefully that gets us going. It’s just hard. It’s just hard, you go 0-for-1, 0-for-2, and you’re like ‘ah, here we go again.’ We actually had a really good power play in the first and then obviously got a couple in the second.” Makar’s second period goal was only his second power-play goal of the season, a remarkable stat for the best defenseman in the world who certainly looked like it against the Wild. “(Power play) felt good,” Makar said after the game. “Felt like things were clicking and we were getting shots on net. Felt like the biggest thing for us was just recoveries. We were finding ways to recover pucks. That’s huge when you can do that as a power play.” Of course, it wasn’t just the power play that got the job done. Colorado’s penalty kill, which entered the night second in the NHL, came up big again, killing all three of Minnesota’s opportunities with the man advantage. Given how good this team is at even strength and how strong their penalty kill has been through 35 games, the power play is really the only thing holding this team back. That wasn’t the case on Sunday night. If they can get that figured out, they’ll somehow become an even more dangerous team. Avalanche 5, Wild 1 What happened: Colorado made a statement, taking down the Wild in their own building less than a month after Minnesota bested them in a shootout. What went right: Avs coach Jared Bednar moved Gabriel Landeskog to the top line, dropping Artturi Lehkonen to the second. “Just wanted a change there,” Bednar said after the game. It worked, as the top line scored in the first period and the second line put on a clinic, led by Valeri Nichushkin, who was all over the ice. “When (Nichushkin) starts playing well, it’s usually not one game here, one game there. He’s usually able to sustain it,” Bednar said. What went wrong: The only time this game got even a little uncomfortable for the Avalanche was a six- or seven-minute stretch in the third, where the Wild scored their only goal and started to push a little bit. As they have most of the season, they figured things out and closed out the game. Avalanche goal scorers: Martin Necas (16), MacKinnon (29, 30), Makar (11), Nelson (14) Wild goal scorers: Ryan Hartman (9) Between the pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood was really strong in net, with two breakaways stop in each of the first two periods. He finished with 28 saves. What’s next: The Avalanche have one more game before the Christmas break, as they’ll host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ...read more read less