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.

MacKinnon is the most likely Avalanche player to take advantage of a Wild defense that is bleeding shots. Not only is he the best shot-generator on the team, but the Wild have allowed the second-most shots to centers in the NHL over the past few weeks.

Logs second-period tally

Ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs' game on Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild, there are reports of a heavy scout presence in the arena raising trade speculation.

Yakov Trenin and Brock Faber scored goals 1:35 apart early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 in Denver on Monday.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, left, loses control of the puck while driving between Minnesota Wild defenseman Jake Middleton, front right, and center Marco Rossi in the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday ...

The Avalanche lost 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena on Monday. Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado while Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves inclduing two highlight-reel stops. Minnesota's Jake Middleton opened the scoring at 12:18 of the first period with a wrist shot through traffic from the point.

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.

“We’ve got to help him out more.” Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno, front left, passes the puck as Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, back left, and goaltender Mackenzie ...

The United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden will play in the Feb. 12-20 4 Nations Face-Off. Here are the rosters and captains.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is now less than two weeks away. It begins Feb. 12 at Bell Centre in Montreal. Most NHL teams have six, seven or eight games remaining before the League breaks for the first best-on-best hockey tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are 10 games on the schedule for Thursday, including two nationally televised in the United States. Thursday also marks the 16th week of “NHL Coast to Coast,” a weekly whip-around studio show on Prime Video in Canada.