SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- It took more than a month, but Nathan MacKinnon seems to be getting his groove back, which is a really good thing for the Colorado Avalanche.

MacKinnon, who struggled offensively for the first six weeks of the season, scored midway through the third period, completing a furious comeback for the Avalanche in a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.

Trailing 2-0 in the third period, the Avalanche got goals from Mikko Rantanen and Carl Soderberg to tie the score before MacKinnon's game-winner completed the comeback. It was the second time in two weeks that the Avalanche (8-9-0) have beaten Minnesota.

"I feel like I've had a lot of good chances the first 17 games," MacKinnon said. "When I went 10 straight without a goal, I felt like, you don't deserve goals, but you feel like you're around the net and it should start going in. It was tough there for a while and it's nice to finally see a couple go in, for sure."

The Wild got goals from Charlie Coyle and Tyler Graovac and seemed to be comfortably in control but lost for the second time in the past three games.

Goalie Devan Dubnyk had 31 saves for Minnesota (9-7-1). His Colorado counterpart, Calvin Pickard, has blanked the Wild on Nov. 5 in Denver and had 41 saves on Saturday.

MacKinnon carried the puck into the Minnesota zone from the far blue line and used Wild defenseman Mike Reilly as a screen, firing a low shot past Dubnyk that the goalie didn't see in time to react.

It was just the fourth goal of the season -- but the second in as many games -- for MacKinnon, who signed a seven-year, $44 million contract with Colorado last summer.

"He's such an elite-level talent and he gets really frustrated, so I think once he settles down and calms down he gets into a rhythm," said Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, who assisted on MacKinnon's game-winner. "He's got so much ability that if you give him some space and give him some time he's going to make other teams pay. We need him to get hot and he is right now."

Minnesota got the first power play of the game and used it to get the first goal of the game. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon's cross-ice pass deflected first off Coyle's stick and then off the skate of Colorado defenseman Patrick Wiercioch into the lower right corner of the net.

The Wild nearly doubled their lead on a later power play when defenseman Ryan Suter's long-range shot hit the post.

Neither team scored again in the first period, but it was not for lack of effort. The teams combined for 41 shots on goal, with Minnesota holding a 21-20 edge, in the opening 20 minutes. That was a franchise record for the Wild in an opening period.

"It was ridiculous," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said of the dearth of defense. "Both teams, when we got inside the blue line the first two periods, they were running around inside our blue line, we were running around. It was not very pretty."

Colorado came within inches of tying the score early in the second period when a scramble in front of Dubnyk found Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie alone with the puck and the goalie out of position. But Barrie's shot at a wide-open net also hit the post.

Minnesota took a 2-0 lead a short time later. Graovac was knocked down at the top of the crease but still managed to pop a shot up and over Pickard. It was the second goal of the season for Graovac, who has split his time between the Wild and their AHL team in Iowa.

"If I score another one like that I'm not going to complain," Graovac joked. "I saw the replay and I was like 'Oh I'm on my back again celebrating.' I don't think we're going to make that a habit but I'll take it if I can."

Colorado found a way past Dubnyk early in the third period, snapping his shutout streak at 156 minutes. MacKinnon zipped a cross-ice pass to Rantanen, who popped a low shot into the net before the goalie could slide across the crease.

The Avalanche tied the score a few minutes later on Soderberg's third goal of the season. With Colorado on a power play, Soderberg's first shot was blocked by Suter and his second was stopped by Dubnyk, but he managed to lift a third shot over the goalie to even the score.

"Tonight I thought we kept pushing. It didn't matter what the score was we tried to stay with our game," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Minny played a great game; they had us on the ropes there for a while and gave us a lot to handle especially below the goal line in our zone and net front and their power play was real good, but (Pickard) made some big saves."

NOTES: Colorado was again without C Matt Duchene and LW Gabriel Landeskog. Duchene missed his fourth consecutive game after suffering a concussion Nov. 11 in a 3-2 home victory over Winnipeg. Landeskog, who has a lower-body injury, has not traveled with the team and is receiving treatment in Denver. ... Minnesota was without LW Zach Parise because of illness. Parise has missed seven of the team's last nine games, the first six because of a foot injury suffered in a victory at Buffalo on Oct. 27. ... With four days off per month mandatory under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, the Avalanche had a free day in Minnesota on Friday with no team practice. ... The Wild are in a stretch with five of six games at home. The lone road contest is Monday against Dallas. ... The Avalanche close out a three-game road trip Monday when they visit Columbus.