Nathan MacKinnon is in a tight race for the Hart Trophy (MVP), but the Colorado Avalanche center likely added another bullet point to his strong résumé on Wednesday night.

Logs second-period tally

MacKinnon has four goals and three assists during his current five-game point streak. The tally was his 19th of the season and opened the scoring in the second period. The 29-year-old center leads the NHL with 75 points and has added 189 shots on net, 43 blocked shots, 27 PIM and a plus-17 rating through 49 appearances this season.

It was a tale of two games for the Minnesota Wild’s defenders. Minnesota was down Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin against the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, Brock Faber returned from his upper-body injury against Nashville.

The Colorado Avalanche put up a short performance against division rival Minnesota Wild in their fourth of a five-game homestand. Nathan MacKinnon scores Colorado's lone goal in the 3-1 loss.

George Nassios and Andrew McInnis discuss the latest odds for the NHL's Hart Trophy, Calder Trophy, playoffs and Stanley Cup final, as well as other predictions.

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

Nathan MacKinnon has the inside track on his second-straight Hart Trophy winner. Here are four other names to watch in the NHL's MVP race.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and his NHL-leading 53rd assist of the season to help the Colorado Avalanche rout the Minnesota Wild 6-1 on Thursday night. Mikko Rantanan and Logan O’Connor also each had a goal and an assist, Ross Colton, Parker Kelly and Artturi Lehkonen also scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves.

For the second time in less than two weeks, the Colorado Avalanche had a chance to gain ground on a wounded Minnesota Wild team. The first meeting was one of the best performances of the season for the Avalanche.

Colorado has a 28-18-1 record overall and a 7-7-0 record in Central Division play. The Avalanche have conceded 146 goals while scoring 158 for a +12 scoring differential. Minnesota has gone 27-15-4 overall with a 9-6-2 record against the Central Division. The Wild are 8-3-2 in one-goal games.

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche, 60 points (seven first-place votes); Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild, 53 (five first-place votes); Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning, 29 (one first-place vote ...