Rapid Recap: Avalanche 2, Wild 1

The Colorado Avalanche extended its home winning streak on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. The Avs have now won four straight games at Ball Arena and have collected points in a season-high five straight outings (4-0-1).
Logan O'Connor and Valeri Nichushkin scored for the Avalanche, while Joonas Donskoi, Cale Makar and Kiefer Sherwood had assists. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 27-of-28 shots to improve to 7-2-0 on the season.

O'Connor began the scoring late in the first period on a shot that went off Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot, and Valeri Nichushkin extended Colorado's lead to 2-0 midway through the second frame on tally that went five-hole after a faceoff win in the Wild zone.
Colorado went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill, with Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov's power-play marker in the second period being the first one the Avalanche had allowed on home ice this season.
The Avs outshot the Wild 31-28 overall.
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Highlights

THE GOALS

1st Period
17:45 COL (1-0) - Logan O'Connor fought for a loose puck below the goal line and then flicked a backhand shot from the low right side that got past Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot.
2nd Period
7:09 COL (2-0) - Valeri Nichushkin scored on a rebound in the low slot following Joonas Donskoi's shot after a faceoff.
13:05 MIN (2-1) - PPG, Kirill Kaprizov scored in the low slot after taking a pass from below the goal line.
3rd Period
No Scoring
Final: Avalanche - 2 | Wild - 1

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 3
Minnesota: 1 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer started for the ninth time this season and made 27 saves on 28 shots.
Minnesota: Cam Talbot stopped 29-of-31 shots faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Cale Makar and Joonas Donskoi both had assists to extend their respective point streak to five games, tying both players' career highs. Makar has one goal and six assists during the stretch, while Donskoi has scored three times and added two helpers

NOTEBOOK

Colorado scored the first goal of the game for a league-leading ninth time (out of 11) and improved to 6-2-1 this year when scoring first… Logan O'Connor recorded his second goal of the season and fourth of his career, while linemate Kiefer Sherwood recorded his second point of the season with an assist on the tally… Colorado's J.T. Compher and Minnesota's Kyle Rau fought at 11:38 of the second period… Samuel Girard and Mikko Rantanen wore alternate captain letters on their jerseys… The Avalanche went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill, denying Minnesota's first two power-play chances to stretch its streak to 24 straight kills. Colorado went 17-for-17 on the penalty kill to begin the season on home ice before Kirill Kaprizov's man-advantage tally in the second period ended the streak… The Avs and Wild were playing the third game of a four-game series, with Colorado now 2-0-1. The teams will meet eight times this season... Brandon Saad had his a four-game point streak come to an end (four goals, three assists).

QUOTABLE

Jacob MacDonald on playing for his favorite childhood team: "That was one of the first things I thought of when I pulled the sweater over my head for warmups (on Sunday). It's just a really cool feeling. Words can't describe it--you're living your dream. Just being able to come in here and contribute and doing everything I can to help this team win."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Double the Bo.

ROSTER REPORT

Sheldon Dries made his season debut and began the contest at center on the fourth line with Logan O'Connor and Kiefer Sherwood. J.T. Compher started as the center on the team's top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, and Tyson Jost took Compher's previous position on a trio with Joonas Donskoi and Valeri Nichushkin. Hunter Miska was the backup goaltender for starter Philipp Grubauer.

INJURY UPDATE

Head coach Jared Bednar said after morning skate that he's going to give an update on injuries early every week, as all six Avs currently out are listed as week-to-week. Nathan MacKinnon (lower body) missed his first game of the season, joining Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (lower body), Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body), Erik Johnson (upper body) and Devon Toews (lower body) on the team's injured list.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche and Wild conclude their four-game set on Thursday at Ball Arena.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 37 J.T. Compher - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
44 Kiefer Sherwood - 15 Sheldon Dries - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 22 Conor Timmins
27 Ryan Graves - 34 Jacob MacDonald
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
32 Hunter Miska