The Colorado Avalanche never trailed until the last two minutes, but the result was typical for them lately: a disappointing defeat. This time at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, the Avalanche lost 1-0 on Thursday night in Saint Paul. It's their eighth loss in 11 games, and puts them at 8-10-1 on the year.

Once in first place early in the year, Colorado is now only a half-game out of last place in the Northwest division after the loss. It's probably not what Avalanche fans expected after the team got off to such a strong start. Thursday's game was tied until the final few minutes. Devin Setoguchi scored his sixth goal of the season with just two-and-a-half minutes left, breaking the scoreless tie to put Minnesota up.

It was an impressive performance by Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, who was 29-for-29 on saves to complete his second shutout of the season. Minnesota is now 11-5-3 on the year, a surprising contender so far this season.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Denver. For more in-depth coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Wild blog Hockey Wilderness. For more from around the league, visit SB Nation's NHL news hub.