Wild 2, Avalanche 1 (SO)
Zach Parise and captain Mikko Koivu each scored in the shootout and Josh Harding stopped two of three attempts as visiting Minnesota edged Colorado.
Nino Niederreiter scored his sixth goal late in the third period on a deflection to tie the game for the Wild, who salvaged the finale of a three-game road trip. Harding, who made 26 saves, came into the game as the league leader in goals-against average.
Maxime Talbot scored in the second period for Colorado, which failed twice on the power play and is 0-of-26 with the man advantage in the last 10 contests. Matt Duchene converted in the shootout and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who had beaten Minnesota in their first two meetings.
Harding stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first period and the Wild killed off a Colorado power play to keep the game scoreless. The Avalanche took the lead 10:48 into the second session when defenseman Cory Sarich’s shot from the point was redirected off Talbot’s skate past Harding for his third goal.
Varlamov made a big stop on Charlie Coyle with a little over 11 minutes left in the third and turned aside three shots on a Wild power play soon after. Defenseman Ryan Suter’s shot from the left point sailed through a crowd and went in off Niederreiter’s stick to knot the score with 3:53 left in regulation.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado D Jan Hejda returned to the lineup after missing the last four games with a knee injury. He played 25:50. … Minnesota recalled C Erik Haula on Friday and inserted him into the lineup while RW Justin Fontaine was scratched. … The Wild gave up the first goal in their ninth straight road game, but improved to 3-5-1 in that stretch.