Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Wild 2 (Exhibition)

The Colorado Avalanche picked up a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild in an exhibition game at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday.
Gabriel Landeskog scored and added an assist in the contest, Colorado's only one before the Stanley Cup Qualifiers begin this weekend. Joonas Donskoi and Nathan MacKinnon also tallied for the Avs in the matchup.
Both teams utilized two goaltenders, with each making the change in net midway through the second period. Philipp Grubauer stopped 18 of 20 shots and Pavel Francouz denied all 14 shots he faced.

For Minnesota, Alex Stalock allowed three goals on 17 shots and Devan Dubnyk stopped the 12 shots he faced. Matt Dumba tallied while Eric Staal registered a goal and an assist for Minnesota.
On Sunday, the Avalanche will begin round-robin play against the St. Louis Blues before continuing its Stanley Cup Qualifier versus the Dallas Stars (Aug. 5) and Vegas Golden Knights (Aug. 8).
Highlights
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Photo Gallery
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Statistics

THE GOALS

1st Period
1:25 COL (1-0) - Vladislav Namestnikov took a shot that went off Minnesota goaltender Alex Stalock's pad and right to Joonas Donskoi, who knocked in the puck to open the game's scoring.
3:05 MIN (1-1) - PPG, During a 4-on-3 power play, Matt Dumba scored on a one-timer after taking a seam pass from Eric Staal.
4:47 COL (2-1) Nathan MacKinnon picked up the puck from Gabriel Landeskog in the neutral zone and scored with a wrist shot from the right circle.
14:06 MIN (2-2) - Eric Staal picked up a rebound and scored from the goal line right after a Wild power-play chance expired.
2nd Period
4:31 COL (3-2) - PPG, Cale Makar put the puck on net and Gabriel Landeskog cleaned up a rebound to score on a 5-on-3 power play.
3rd Period
No Scoring
Final:Avalanche - 3 | Wild - 2

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 5
Minnesota: 1 for 8

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz split the game in net for the Avs. Grubauer started and made 18-of-20 saves in 30:20 of ice time before Francouz came in and denied all 14 shots he faced.
Minnesota: Alex Stalock started the game in the Wild's crease, making 14 saves on 17 shots in the first half of the game. Devan Dubnyk played 27:35 and stopped all 12 shots he faced.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Goalie Tandem.

ROSTER REPORT

With only one exhibition game before the Stanley Cup Qualifiers begin, the Avalanche dressed 13 forwards and seven defensemen in the matchup. Tyson Jost served as the 13th forward while Kevin Connauton filled the role of seventh rear guard. Forwards Shane Bowers, Sheldon Dries, Logan O'Connor and T.J. Tynan joined defensemen Mark Barberio, Bowen Byram, Samuel Girard and Anton Lindholm and goaltender Michael Hutchinson as the Colorado players who did not dress in the outing.

UP NEXT

Colorado opens its Stanley Cup Qualifier schedule against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. MT. The Avs will also play the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights in the round-robin play, facing the Stars on Wednesday and Golden Knights on Aug. 8.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
Andre Burakovsky - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog - Nazem Kadri - Valeri Nichushkin
Vladislav Namestnikov - J.T. Compher - Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Matt Calvert
Tyson Jost
Defensemen
Ryan Graves - Cale Makar
Erik Johnson - Ian Cole
Nikita Zadorov - Conor Timmins
Kevin Connauton
Goaltenders
Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz