DENVER, Dec 24: The Colorado Avalanche returned to familiar territory Sunday by reaching the top of the Northwest Division after taming the Minnesota Wild 6-3.

Rookie Brian Willsie scored his first two goals in more than six weeks and linemate Scott Parker had three assists as the Avalanche (21-13-4-0) climbed one point ahead of Edmonton into first place.

The red-hot defending Stanley Cup champions have gone 11-1-3 in their last 15 games.

Parker had just five points in 122 NHL games before setting up both of Willsie’s goals and another by Eric Messier.

Minnesota was trying to win on the road for the third time in a row, but the Wild lacked their usual energy.

In Nashville, Petr Tenkrat scored with 35 seconds left in regulation as the Nashville Predators extended their home unbeaten streak to 11 games with a thrilling 1-1 tie with the San Jose Sharks.

Nashville was killing a penalty in the final minute and pulled goaltender Mike Dunham to achieve a 5-on-5.

Andy Delmore stripped the puck from fellow defenseman Mike Rathje and threw it across the ice. Tenkrat whipped a shot from the outside edge of the right faceoff circle that tipped off Sharks defenseman Gary Suter and eluded goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

In Atlanta, Marty Turco stopped 31 shots and Pat Verbeek collected a goal and an assist as the Dallas Stars registered a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Turco, Ed Belfour’s backup, extended his personal winning streak to five games and has recorded a pair of shutouts and allowed just six goals during that stretch.

Verbeek scored the eventual game-winner 44 seconds into the third period, giving Dallas a 2-1 lead.

In Chicago, Dominik Hasek had a cushion but still proved stingy in the nets as “The Dominator” stopped 23 shots in the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-0 whitewashing of the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was the second straight shutout for Hasek. Brendan Shanahan and Luc Robitaille each had a goal and an assist as the Red Wings snapped Chicago’s three-game winning streak.

Chicago got more bad news when right wing Steve Thomas caught his skate in a rut in the second period and broke his left ankle. Thomas will undergo surgery Monday and is not expected back until mid-February.

In New York, Petr Nedved scored with 61 seconds remaining as the Rangers recorded a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Theo Fleury had a pair of power-play goals for New York, which now faces a season-high six-game trip that starts in San Jose and ends in Pittsburgh.

Defenseman Brian Leetch had a pair of assists for the Rangers, who have a two-point lead over the Islanders atop the Atlantic Division.

Sunday’s results (home team in CAPS):

NY RANGERS 3 Ottawa 2

NASHVILLE 1 San Jose 1

Dallas 4 ATLANTA 1

Detroit 5 CHICAGO 0

Anaheim 4 PHOENIX 0

COLORADO 6 Minnesota 3

—Reuters