Avs and Wild Conclude Back-to-Back on Sunday

The Colorado Avalanche faces off against the Minnesota Wild in the second game of a back-to-back set between the clubs on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. The contest is also the second of a four-game series against the Wild.
Colorado moved to 6-3-0 on the year with a 5-1 victory over the Wild on Saturday. Logan O'Connor opened the scoring for the Avs in his season debut, tallying his first goal of the campaign. Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen, Brandon Saad and J.T. Compher also found the back of the net, with Saad also adding a goal and an assist for his third straight multi-point effort. Netminder Philipp Grubauer earned his league leading sixth win of the season, stopping 19-of-20 shots.

For Minnesota, Matt Dumba notched the lone goal for the squad--his third of the year--with assists from Jonas Brodin and Jordan Greenway. Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 28 saves in his fifth start of the season.
It is the first time in franchise history the Avs will play four consecutive regular-season games against the same team.

Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild

Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, Minn.
| Game Time: | 6:00 p.m. | | --- | --- | | TV: | Altitude (blackouts apply), Fox-Sports North (MIN), NHL Network (blackouts apply) | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, AM 950/FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | AltitudeNow.com, Official app (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)... Greg Pateryn spent the last two-plus seasons with the Wild… Avalanche netminder Hunter Miska is from North Branch, Minnesota and played at Minnesota Duluth (2016-17)… 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

In 20 seasons, the clubs have met in three postseason series (2003, 2008, 2014). The Avs defeated the Wild in six games in the 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals and fell to the Wild in seven games in 2003 and 2014. In the regular season, the Avs sport an all-time 51-43-13 mark versus Minnesota, including an 8-4-1 record in the last 13 meetings.
Mikko Rantanen's 21 career points (seven goals, 14 assists) against Minnesota and Gabriel Landeskog's 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) are the most the two forwards have registered against any opponent.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltender Hunter Miska is expected to make his second start of the season in net in the second half of a back-to-back. On defense, head coach Jared Bednar said after Saturday's contest that does not suspect Erik Johnson to be available on Sunday. Colorado's extra defensemen in Minnesota on the taxi squad are Greg Pateryn and Jacob MacDonald and one of them is expected to enter the lineup.

INJURY UPDATE

Erik Johnson left Saturday's game in the first period and did not return with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Devon Toews (lower body) did not travel to Minnesota with the team and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will miss some time with a lower-body injury. Forward Matt Calvert (upper body) and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) are out indefinitely.

SCOUTING THE WILD

The Wild hold a 5-4-0 mark through the first nine games of the season, with a 2-3-0 mark at Xcel Energy Center. In 53 all-time games at home versus the Avs, Minnesota boasts a 29-20-5 record with a 5-5-0 mark in the last 10 times it has hosted Colorado.
It is Minnesota's first back-to-back set of the season. Last year, the club went 4-3-1 in the second games of such sets, tallying 3.25 goals per game and allowing 2.88 notches per game.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: KIRILL KAPRIZOV

Kirill Kaprizov is in his rookie season and has tallied two goals and five assists in nine games, which is tied for second in scoring on the Wild. The rookie introduced himself to the league with a memorable NHL debut performance, notching the game-winning overtime goal and adding two assists in the contest in a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 14, becoming the third player in NHL history to score an overtime goal in his debut.
Karprizov (seven points) is tied for the league lead in points by a rookie with the New Jersey Devils' Ty Smith and ranks second on the Wild in scoring.

NUMBERS GAME

1

Mikko Rantanen is the first player in franchise history to register a goal in each of the first five road contests. Rantanen leads the Avs with seven goals and is tied with Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid for the second most goals in the NHL.

4

Colorado is 4-1-0 when outshooting its opponent this season. The Avs have outshot its opposition in their last three contests

10

Cale Makar's 10 assists are the second-most all-time by an Avalanche defenseman through the first nine games of the season. John-Michael Liles recorded 11 assists in the initial nine contests of the 2010-11 campaign.

NOTEBOOK

The Avs plus-14 goal differential is the highest in the league; Colorado led the Western Conference last season with a plus-46 goal differential… The Avalanche is 1-0-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. After Saturday's contest, the Avs moved to 1-1-0 in the first game of back-to-back series… Cale Makar is tied for second in the league in points by a defenseman with 10 (Washington Capitals' John Carlson)… Colorado leads the league with a 90.9 penalty-kill percentage, killing 19 consecutive penalties… Brandon Saad's three-game multi-point streak is the longest of his career… Joonas Donskoi tallied his 10th career game-winning goal… Philipp Grubauer has won three straight games for the second time this season… Nathan MacKinnon has a four games point streak (five assists), while Andre Burakovsky (one goal, four assists), Joonas Donskoi (two goals, one assist), Cale Makar (five assists) and Brandon Saad (three goals, three assists) are on three-game point streaks.