Missing this many games all but eliminates him from contention no matter how well he has played or how much he has produced this season.

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.

The Washington Capitals signed goalie Logan Thompson to a six-year extension. Follow this tracker for the latest NHL news.

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

Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday.

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.

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.

“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 ...

Kirill Kaprizov, leading scorer for the playoff-hopeful Wild, will miss at least four weeks to have surgery on a lingering lower-body injury, the team said Tuesday.

Mark Scheifele has been held scoreless for four straight games, but our NHL player prop picks for January 26 expect that to change tonight.

In 62 previous regular-season matchups against the Jets, the Avalanche are 29-26-7. This season, the home teams are undefeated, with the Jets winning in Winnipeg on November 7 and January 11 while the Avs won in Denver on December 31.