Rapid Recap: Wild 4, Avalanche 3

The Colorado Avalanche fell 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild in preseason action on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Defenseman Conor Timmins scored with 2:28 remaining in the third period to cut the Avs' deficit to one goal, but they weren't able to find the equalizer after pulling goaltender Pavel Francouz for the extra attacker in the final minutes.
Ty Lewis and Jayson Megna also scored for Colorado, while Shane Bowers had two assists in his first-ever NHL preseason game. Bowers is entering his first full professional campaign after spending the past two seasons playing college hockey at Boston University.

The Avalanche outshot the Wild 33-26 in the contest. Francouz made 22 saves while playing the entire game.
Mats Zuccarello (one goal, two assists), Matt Dumba (one goal, one assist) and Eric Staal (one goal, one assist) had multi-point outings for the Wild.
Highlights
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Photo Gallery
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Statistics

THE GOALS

1st Period
2:50 MIN (0-1) - Matt Dumba tallied on a one-timer from the right point while goaltender Pavel Francouz was screened in front.
2nd Period
1:51 COL (1-1) - Ty Lewis scored in the low slot after taking a pass from Shane Bowers in the corner. Bowers created the goal by intercepting a pass after Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk went out of his net to play the puck.
2:47 MIN (1-2) - Jason Zucker scored into an open net after Matt Dumba's shot caromed off the post and went directly to him on the right side.
14:48 MIN (1-3) - Eric Staal found the back of the net on a wrist shot from the right circle that went five-hole.
19:57 COL (2-3) - Jayson Megna tallied on a rebound in the closing seconds of the period after Dan Renouf fired a shot from the left point. A.J. Greer was in front of the net to provide a screen on goalie Devan Dubnyk.
3rd Period
9:44 MIN (2-4) - Mats Zuccarello made a deke move on a breakaway and beat Pavel Francouz on a shot.
17:32 COL (3-4) - Conor Timmins found the back of the net after powering his way past a Wild player and firing a wrist shot from the right circle.
Final: Wild - 4 | Avalanche - 3

3 STARS

Selected by Wild.com

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0-for-8
Minnesota: 0-for-4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado:Pavel Francouz made 22 saves in his first action of the preseason.
Minnesota:Devan Dubnyk stopped 30-of-33 shots. He denied 15 pucks while Minnesota was on the penalty kill.

NOTEBOOK

• Shane Bowers (two assists) and Jayson Megna (one goal, one assist) each had multi-point outings. Megna finished with a plus-3 rating.
  - Conor Timmins played a team-high 23:39 and led the team with eight shots attempted (four on goal, four blocked).
  - Colorado finished with a 33-26 edge in shots on goal and outshot Minnesota 26-14 in the final two periods of play.
  - Andre Burakovsky, J.T. Compher and Kevin Connauton were the alternate captains in the game.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

Shane Bowers intercepts a pass by Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk, and the Avalanche takes advantage of the opportunity.

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Jayson Megna celebrates after scoring with less than three seconds remaining in the second period.

ROSTER REPORT

Avs goaltender Pavel Francouz played his first preseason game of 2019-20… Shane Bowers, Kevin Connauton, Ty Lewis, Anton Lindholm and Dan Renouf also played their first preseason outings… Forward Martin Kaut has skated in all three games with the Avalanche during the exhibition schedule… Adam Werner was Colorado's backup netminder

INJURY UPDATE

Kevin Connauton played his first game after missing the previous two contests while healing from a broken cheek bone. He has participated in every team practice since the start of training camp, but his skate on Friday marked his first one that wasn't in a non-contact uniform… Nikita Zadorov (lower body) and Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare (lower body) did not play as they're dealing with minor injuries… Erik Johnson (shoulder) continues to heal from offseason surgery and practiced on Friday in a non-contact jersey… Ian Cole keeps progressing from dual hip surgeries in the offseason and has been skating on his own… Colin Wilson (shoulder surgery/lower body) skated on Friday.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche faces the Wild again on Sunday as the teams conclude their home-and-home, back-to-back set at Pepsi Center at 5 p.m. MT. Colorado is halfway done with its six-game preseason slate.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Sheldon Dries - J.T. Compher - Andre Burakovsky
A.J. Greer - Vladislav Kamenev - Martin Kaut
Valeri Nichushkin - T.J. Tynan - Erik Condra
Ty Lewis - Shane Bowers - Jayson Megna
Ryan Graves - Conor Timmins
Anton Lindholm - Mark Alt
Dan Renouf - Kevin Connauton
Pavel Francouz
Adam Werner