After a delay to the start of the second half of their season, the Colorado Avalanche went down in defeat to the Minnesota Wild, 4-3, on Thursday night. Current Wild player and former Avalanche winger Andrew Brunette scored twice in Minnesota's victory.
Minnesota's Kyle Brodziak scored 33 seconds into the game and then half a minute later Brunette scored his first goal of the game. Colorado's Milan Hejduk brought the game to a 2-1 score with a goal at 11:47 in the second period, but Brunette answered back nearly five minutes later with second goal of the game.
Hejduk struck again for the Avalanche 45 seconds into the third period to close the gap to 3-2. However, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored a goal to at 11:26 to increase Minnesota's lead to 4-2. Colorado's Chris Stewart scored the team's third goal with 11 seconds left in the game. It was Stewart's first goal since he returned from a broken hand on Jan. 14.
Minnesota's Jose Theodore made 38 stops on 41 shots, while Colorado's Craig Anderson allowed four goals on 25 shots.
The Avalanche (25-20-6, 56 points) host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, Feb. 5. The puck drops at 1:00 p.m. MT.