Jonathan Drouin finishes the feed from Artturi Lehkonen to extend the Avalanche lead to 3-1.

Jonathan Drouin and Jack Drury scored 52 seconds apart in a three-goal second period and the Colorado Avalanche beat weary Minnesota 5-2 on Friday night to pull even with the third-place Wild in the Central Division.

Drouin posted an assist, two shots on goal and two PIM in Wednesday's 5-1 win over the Devils. Drouin's been a little quiet in February, picking up four assists over seven contests. He's playing on the second line while Artturi Lehkonen is on the first line -- given the Avalanche's troubles with depth scoring,

Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta and Martin Necas added goals as the Avalanche improved to 4-0 on their six-game homestand.

He's up to eight goals, 27 points (six on the power play), 41 shots on net and a plus-4 rating over 30 appearances. It can only be good news for Drouin with Brock Nelson getting traded to the Avalanche on Thursday -- they'll likely begin together on the second line.

Five points in last five games

Nets equalizer Friday

Ross Colton posted two goals and an assist to help the Avalanche defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 at Ball Arena on Friday. Oliver Kylington added a pair of assists while Valeri Nichushkin, Jonathan Drouin and Jack Drury each scored for the Avs.

Ross Colton had two goals and an assist, Jonathan Drouin and Jack Drury scored 52 seconds apart and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in Denver on Friday night.

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, including a brilliant power-play goal to complete a Colorado Avalanche comeback in a 7-4 victory Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at a raucous Ball Arena.

Valeri Nichushkin completed a hat trick with an empty-net score after Nathan MacKinnon knocked in the go-ahead goal with 4:15 remaining and the Colorado Avalanche rallied from two goals down to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4 on Saturday night.

Valeri Nichushkin had three goals for his first career regular-season hat trick, Nathan MacKinnon had two goals to reach 100 points for the season, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied in the third period to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4 in Denver on Saturday night.