Wild 5, Avalanche 3
Jonas Brodin scored his first career goal - part of a three-goal, second-period outburst - as host Minnesota won the opener of a home-and-home series.
Captain Mikko Koivu recorded two goals - including an empty-netter - and Devin Setoguchi also scored in the second period for the Wild, who set a season high for tallies in winning for the sixth time in nine games. Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves, defenseman Ryan Suter had three assists and Torrey Mitchell scored in the first period for Minnesota.
PA Parenteau scored twice - the second with 13:17 left to make it 4-3 - and captain Gabriel Landeskog recorded his first goal in seven games for the Avalanche, who are 2-9-3 on the road and 0-5-3 in their last eight contests away from home. Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots.
The teams combined for four goals in a 3:11 span of the second period. Setoguchi picked up the rebound of Matt Cullen's shot and slid the puck just inside the left post at 8:01 to give the Wild a 2-1 lead before Brodin beat Varlamov to the glove side from the right faceoff dot to make it 3-1.
The two-goal lead lasted only 23 seconds as Ryan O'Reilly beat two Wild defenders to the puck behind the net and fed Landeskog, who deked Backstrom while on the doorstep. Koivu's tally into a mostly open net followed a nifty pass sequence between Zach Parise and Suter to give Minnesota a 4-2 lead at 11:12.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado's last victory on the road came in a 4-3 shootout at Minnesota on Feb. 14. ... The Wild have scored four or more goals in four of their last eight games after scoring four twice in their first 18 contests. ... Minnesota rookie Jason Zucker was scratched, two days after he took a vicious hit to the head from Anaheim's Corey Perry which resulted in a four-game suspension. Zucker skated in practice Wednesday.