DENVER – Nobody from Team Sweden came home from the Olympics with a medal, after losing to the Americans in the tournament’s quarterfinals. But the extra few days of rest looks to have done them some good.

The Minnesota Wild jumped back into NHL play Thursday with a statement win in Colorado, fueled by two of their Swedish Olympians. The 5-2 victory over the division-leading Avalanche came via a pair of Joel Eriksson Ek goals, and a 44-save night by goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Mats Zuccarello added an insurance goal and Matt Boldy hit the empty net twice late as the Wild pulled ahead of Dallas and within five points of the Avalanche for the lead in the Central Division. Colorado, which hosts the Wild again next week, still has two games in hand on Minnesota.

Out-shot 9-1 early, the Wild’s first bit of work for Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was notable. Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar stumbled, springing a 2-on-1 break with Boldy feeding a cross-ice pass to Marcus Johansson, whose wrist shot hit the left post, then got a piece of the goalie before a Colorado defender swatted it away from the goalmouth.

Colorado killed a pair of Wild power plays in the first, while Gustavsson turned away every puck he faced, and they went to the first intermission scoreless.

Minnesota grabbed the momentum, and the lead, in the second. Makar went to the penalty box for slashing, and the Wild capitalized on the man-advantage, when Eriksson Ek popped in the rebound of a Boldy shot.

The lead didn’t make it to the end of the period, as a rising shot by Martin Necas found open air over Gustavsson’s shoulder.

With the Wild already on a power play late in the middle frame, Boldy was cross-checked in the face, giving Minnesota 72 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage. Colorado immediately took a third penalty, extending the Wild’s two-man advantage to nearly two full minutes.

Colorado killed two of the three penalties, but was not yet back to full strength when Eriksson Ek banked the puck off the inside of Blackwood’s leg for a 2-1 lead heading into the second break.

Quinn Hughes had a helper on the goal, extending his franchise-best assist streak to 11 games.

The Wild entered the NHL’s three-week Olympic break on a heater, going 8-1-1 in their final 10 games before the pause. They face the Mammoth in Utah on Friday night.

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