Avs Head to Minnesota for Series vs. Wild

After going 5-0-1 in its six-game homestand, the Colorado Avalanche hits the road and visits the Minnesota Wild to close out the season series with a pair of matchups at Xcel Energy Center beginning on Monday.
The Avs (25-8-4) earned a 2-1 victory versus the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena on Saturday, completing a two-game sweep over the club to extend their win streak to four games and point streak to 14 contests (12-0-2). Cale Makar scored with just over 40 seconds left in the third period for his second game-winning goal of the campaign, while Nathan MacKinnon also found the back of the net to extend his point streak to five games. Gabriel Landeskog and Devon Toews each added an assist as netminder Philipp Grubauer picked up his third consecutive win, denying 27-of-28 shots.

Minnesota (23-11-2) is coming off of its own two-game series sweep over the Vegas Golden Knights after a 2-1 win on Saturday. Joel Eriksson Ek finished with a goal and an assists for his fifth multi-point outing of the year and Kirill Kaprizov tallied for the third straight contest. Goaltender Cam Talbot made 27 saves to earn his 11th victory of the season.
Monday's game begins a four-game road trip for Colorado. The Avs just wrapped up a stretch that had them playing 15-of-17 at home and they will now finish the season playing 14 of their last 19 on the road.

Avalanche vs. MINNESOTA WILD

Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, Minn.
| Game Time: | 6:00 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude, Bally Sports North, Bally Sports Wisconsin (MIN) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app, ESPN+ (blackouts apply to all) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS

Erik Johnson is from Bloomington, Minnesota, and played one season at the University of Minnesota (2006-07)... Wild defenseman Ian Cole spent the last two-plus seasons with Colorado… Minnesota goaltender Andrew Hammond spent part of the 2017-18 campaign with the Avalanche… Wild assistant coaches Darby Hendrickson (2003-2004) and Brett McLean (2005-2007) played for the Avs.

HISTORY

Colorado sports a 4-1-1 mark against Minnesota this season after sweeping the last two-game set on March 18-20 at Ball Arena. The Avs put together two dominant performances as the club defeated the Wild 5-1 in the first meeting behind Mikko Rantanen's four-point night (two goals, two assists) and 6-0 in the second matchup as Philipp Grubauer collected his fifth shutout of the campaign with 31 saves. Overall, the Avalanche has outscored Minnesota 23-13 through the first six matchups, while owning a plus-61 shot differential (218-157).
In 112 all-time meetings between the clubs, Colorado boasts a 54-44-14 record against its division rival and a 4-4-2 mark in its last 10 at Xcel Energy Center. Thursday's matchup is the seventh contest of this year's eight-game season series between the Avs and Wild, with the final meeting coming on Wednesday.

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche did not practice before traveling to Minnesota on Sunday, so its lineup likely will be unknown until after morning skate. Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup on Saturday in place of Kiefer Sherwood after missing Friday's game with an upper-body injury. Goalie Philipp Grubauer is expected to start in between the pipes for the second straight game.

INJURY UPDATE

Bowen Byram is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, while Logan O'Connor (lower body) and Matt Calvert (upper body) are both out week-to-week. Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) are both out long term with injuries.

SCOUTING THE WILD

The Wilds holds a 23-11-2 record this season, slotting in at third place in the West Division (48 points), and has a 13-3-0 mark on home ice. Minnesota has won 11 straight contests at Xcel Energy Center, the longest home win streak of its franchise history. Over the stretch, the club has allowed the least amount of goals at home in the league (14), while sporting the top penalty-kill unit (94.1 percent). Cam Talbot has gone undefeated at home this season as he owns a 7-0-0 record, .956 save percentage, 1.23 goals-against average and two shutouts.
Minnesota has hosted the Avs in two matchups this season and is 1-1-0 with an 81.8 penalty kill percentage and has yet to find the back of the net on the man advantage.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: KEVIN FIALA

Kevin Fiala is in his second season with the Wild and has registered 10 goals and 10 assists in 33 games, ranking fourth on the club in points and third in tallies. Fiala has been one of the key contributors on the power-play unit as he has notched the most points (five) on the man advantage and is tied for the team-lead in goals (three). The forward has collected a point in a season-best five consecutive games, tallying one marker and five assists in that span.
In his career, Fiala has recorded 81 goals and 97 helpers in 320 contests with Minnesota and the Nashville Predators, while compiling 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 19 meetings with Colorado.

NUMBERS GAME

4

Nathan MacKinnon registered his 203rd goal of his career on Saturday, taking over sole possession of the fourth-most goals in team history (since 1995-96) as he passed Peter Forsberg (202). MacKinnon is tied for first in scoring on the club this year with 43 points.

14

Colorado has points in 14 straight games (12-0-2), the longest streak in the NHL this season and tied for the second-longest point streak in franchise history. The 2002-03 Avalanche also had points in 14 straight contests (11-0-3), while the 2000-01 club holds the record at 16 games (12-0-4).

30

Colorado has put 30 or more shots on net in four straight games and has reached the 30-shot mark in all but seven contests this season (30-of-37). The Avalanche leads the league with 35.4 shots per game and sport a 22-6-2 record when outshooting its opponents, the most wins in the NHL when putting more pucks on goal.

NOTEBOOK

Colorado owns an 8-4-2 record on the road, including a 3-1-1 mark in its last five away from home… Mikko Rantanen leads the club in scoring in road contests, registering 10 goals and nine assists in 14 games… Philipp Grubauer is tied for the most wins by a goaltender in the NHL, earning 23 victories this season. His 1.76 goals-against average ranks first among NHL netminders who have played 10 or more games, while his .929 save percentage ranks third… The Avs are 10-2-4 in one-goal games this season… The Avalanche has scored first in four straight games and in a league-high 27 games this season with a 22-3-2 mark when lighting the lamp first, also an NHL best.