NHL: Colorado 4, Minnesota 2

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Jan Hejda and T.J. Galiardi scored in the third period Monday and the Colorado Avalanche beat Minnesota 4-2, handing the Wild their seventh straight loss.

Hejda's tally off a pass through the crease from Ryan O'Reilly broke a 2-2 tie 10:20 into the third period, and Galiardi's slap shot 2 1/2 minutes later gave the Avs an insurance goal.

O'Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog also scored as Colorado notched its fifth straight victory.

Semyon Varlamov earned the victory with 20 stops, including all nine in the third period.

Cal Clutterbuck and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored for Minnesota, which hasn't won since Dec. 10. Niklas Backstrom finished with 28 saves.