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Shutouts, rallies, nail-biters — the Wild used almost every method possible to keep winning at home, a reign that has lifted it into the playoff-bound side of the West Division.
But when the team finally had a chance to show off that prowess in front of its largest live audience of the season, the announced crowd of 3,000 witnessed the Wild's first loss at Xcel Energy Center in more than two months.
And like the victories that came before it, this result was dictated by the Wild.
"We just had a brain fart," Ryan Hartman said.
The Wild fell apart in the second period despite starting and finishing in control — encouraging bookends that couldn't salvage a 5-4 letdown to the Avalanche on Monday night that extended Colorado's point streak to an NHL-best 15 games (13-0-2) while nixing the Wild's franchise-record home win streak at 11.