ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Other teams in the NHL have had lapses like the Wild, skids that have lasted three-to-four games _ or even longer.
Take the Sabres, who the Wild upended 4-1 earlier in the week. They had a six-game rut end just last week. And the Wild's most recent opponent, the Avalanche, dropped five games in a row earlier this season.
The reason why most clubs remain above the Wild on the leaderboard, though, is because those squads have also assembled win streaks, a run that's been missing from the Wild's repertoire.
But after holding off the Avalanche, 3-2, Thursday in front of 17,574 at Xcel Energy Center, the team finally has a chance to start climbing since it's posted back-to-back wins for just the second time this season.
The Wild also had consecutive victories Oct.20 and 22 against Montreal and Edmonton.
Overall, the team is 3-0-1 in its last four and it extended its point streak on home ice to seven games (5-0-2).
This was also the Wild's first win this season against the Central Division after starting 0-6-1 against their rivals. Against the rest of the NHL, the team is 8-5-1 _ perhaps a source of confidence as the Wild gets ready to return to the road for three games vs. the Eastern Conference.
Winger Jason Zucker nixed a 2-2 tie in the third period at 9 minutes, 58 seconds, this after the Avalanche scored twice late in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit.
Both of Colorado's goals came from rookie standout Cale Makar.
At 14:19, his blistering shot from the shot on the power play sailed top shelf while defenseman Matt Dumba was in the penalty box for cross-checking. Then with 1:11 remaining in the period, Makar skated in from the right faceoff circle, toe dragged around a sprawled Joel Eriksson Ek and then wired the puck past goalie Alex Stalock.
But the Wild rebounded in the third.
Goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped center Eric Staal, but the puck remained loose and Zucker buried it behind an unsuspecting Grubauer for his seventh goal of the season.
After racking up 11 shots in the first, the Wild opened the scoring 1:48 into the second on the power play when captain Mikko Koivu set up winger Mats Zuccarello for a redirect in front of the net. The helper was Koivu's fourth in his last four games.
Defenseman Ryan Suter also earned an assist on the play, this after he recorded his 100th career power-play assist Tuesday _ becoming the first Wild defenseman to reach the plateau. Suter also assisted on Zucker's goal.
The Wild finished 1 for 4 with the man advantage; Colorado went 1 for 2.
Only 53 seconds later, the Wild doubled their lead when winger Jordan Greenway skated past Grubauer and shot into a yawning net for his second goal of the season.
Since Nov.1, a span of nine games, the Wild have scored 15 goals in the middle frame _ ranking first in the NHL in that category.
Staal had a glorious opportunity to tack on a 16th, getting the puck while he was alone in front of the net, but Grubauer kept out Staal's backhand attempt.
And not growing their lead stung the Wild because the Avalanche closed the gap before the period expired, setting up a decisive third that the Wild ultimately won.
Stalock ended up with 25 saves, while Grubauer made 28.
