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.

Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday.

The Wild were still without Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon ... an illness but did make it to back up Gustavsson. Mackenzie Blackwood was in the other net for the Avalanche.

"Yeah, they’re banged up over there," Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson said on the Wild. "That’s not their full team but it’s nice to come into a back-to-back and find that energy, find that burst, especially in the third period, right where you feel like you might be slowing down."

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche for their first season meeting on Thursday evening, Jan. 9. The Wild were still without Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, and Jakub Lauko.

Minnesota took back the lead early in the third period when Jiricek sent a pass in the slot to Trenin, whose snap shot beat Blackwood at 2:08. The Wild added another goal soon after when Faber got a drop pass from Ryan Hartman, skated in between the circles and sent a shot over Blackwood's left shoulder at 3:43.

Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday. Jake Middleton had a goal and an assist, Brock Faber also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for 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.

Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin will both be unavailable when the Minnesota Wild take on the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

With veteran defensemen Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon all missing with various ailments and newcomer David Jiricek making his Wild debut, the back end was sure to be at least part

After a bad loss to Nashville on Saturday, the Wild bounced back with a smart, structured game plan against the rival Avalanche.

The game was tied entering the third period but Trenin gave the Wild a 2-1 lead with a wrister in the slot that beat Mackenzie Blackwood at 2:08.