ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild are still waiting for a breakthrough for their offense, but that didn’t prevent them from outscoring the Avalanche.

They outlasted typically potent Colorado, 2-1 in a shootout Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center to end the Avalanche’s six-game surge while gaining ground in the Western Conference playoff race.

With this win, which also split the season series, the Wild moved within three points of Colorado for third place in the Central Division — a spot the Avalanche snatched from the Wild last week. The Wild, in the first wild-card position, are eight points ahead of the Flames, who occupy the second and final wild-card berth.

Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy converted in the shootout after a tip by Joel Kiviranta spoiled Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson’s shutout bid with 5 minutes, 40 seconds to go in the third period.

Gustavsson was still superb, blocking 27 shots before stopping Nathan MacKinnon in the shootout; Martin Necas whiffed on his try.

Boldy and Zuccarello and their center Marco Rossi were also behind the Wild’s regulation goal.

After Boldy maneuvered an errant Colorado pass to Rossi, he and Zuccarello skated in alone during a 2-on-0 rush that Zuccarello buried with a flick of the wrist at 11:01 of the second after accepting Rossi’s handoff.

The goal was Zuccarello’s 15th of the season and 322nd point with the Wild, lifting him past Andrew Brunette for the eighth most in franchise history.

That a snafu would open the scoring wasn’t surprising given how diligently the Wild were skating, and the Avalanche were also attentive even though they were more reserved than usual; this was the second game in as many nights for the team, and Colorado was coming off an emotional victory at home over Chicago that included a bench-clearing celebration for superstar MacKinnon’s 1,000th career point.

MacKinnon, an MVP contender yet again, leads the NHL in scoring with 102 points, but he was held in check by a Wild defense that rarely made life harder on itself.

Even when the team did have a miscue, such as Marcus Foligno’s chip over the boards that led to a delay-of-game penalty early in the second period, the Wild surrendered just two shots and Gustavsson denied both — including getting a piece of a Brock Nelson wind-up with his shoulder before the puck caromed off the crossbar. Nelson, a Warroad, Minn., native who was dealt from the New York Islanders to the Avalanche before last week’s NHL trade deadline, even celebrated like he had scored, but the puck stayed out.

Overall, the much-maligned Wild penalty kill went 2 for 2; their power play was 0 for 1.

This was the Wild’s first game against Colorado’s new-look lineup.

Aside from Nelson, the Avalanche also brought in former Wild forward Charlie Coyle, and the changes haven’t slowed down the team: During its recent six-game tear, Colorado racked up 31 goals — a span in which it tallied seven in back-to-back games.

But while the Wild offense has cooled lately — this was the third consecutive game the team maxed out at a single regulation-time goal — the defense has been steady; the Wild had given up only two goals in each of its past two games before allowing empty-netters.

Gustavsson, who was in the right place at the right time with how pucks were hitting him all night, was finally eluded on a deflection by Kiviranta before Zuccarello and Boldy’s shootout goals extinguished the Avalanche’s rally.

Colorado netminder Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 22 saves.

The Wild’s season-long, seven-game homestand continues Thursday vs. the New York Rangers.

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