Rapid Recap: Wild 6, Avalanche 2

The Colorado Avalanche fell 6-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday at Ball Arena.
Mats Zuccarello scored the only goal of the first period and added an assist in the third frame, one of five Wild skaters with multi-point efforts. Nico Sturm scored twice, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno each had a goal and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov had two helpers.
The Avs had a 32-25 advantage in shots and goal and received tallies from J.T. Compher and Nazem Kadri. Samuel Girard, Devon Toews, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar all collected assists.

The Avs are now 2-1-1 against the Wild this season, and the clubs next meet for a two-game set at Ball Arena on March 18-20.
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Highlights

THE GOALS

1st Period
9:44 MIN (0-1) - Mats Zuccarello scored from a tough angel after an odd-man rush.
2nd Period
7:21 COL (1-1) - J.T. Compher one-timed the puck into the Minnesota net from the right circle after receiving a pass from Samuel Girard.
12:31 MIN (1-2) - Matt Dumba's shot from the point was deflected by Zach Parise.
15:11 MIN (1-3) - SHG, Marcus Foligno scored from the slot after a faceoff in the Avalanche zone.
3rd Period
3:00 COL (3-2) - PPG, Nazem Kadri recorded his fifth goal of the season.
11:56 MIN (2-4) - Ryan Hartman scored after Kirill Kaprizov skated the puck into the zone.
12:59 MIN (2-5) - Nico Sturm tallied five-hole on a breakaway.
17:32 MIN (2-6) - ENG, Nico Sturm scored his second of the game into an empty net.
Final: Wild - 6 | Avalanche - 2

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 4
Minnesota: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 19 saves.
Minnesota: Kaapo Kahkonen allowed two goals on 32 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Samuel Girard, Cale Makar and Devon Toews all collected assists in the contest, and Colorado's defensemen have now combined for 37 points (seven goals, 30 assists) on the season. Entering the game, 28.1 percent of the Avalanche's total point production had come from its blueliners, the second highest in the league.
Makar's helper with the 50th of his career. He required the fifth-fewest games (71) among defensemen in NHL history to collect 50 career regular-season assists.

NOTEBOOK

Colorado killed off both penalties it took in the game and the PK unit has now extinguished 36 of its last 39 shorthanded situations(92.3 percent)... The contest was originally scheduled for Feb. 4 but was postponed due to NHL COVID protocols... The game was the fourth of eight matchups between the Avalanche and Wild in 2020-21 and the second of four at Ball Arena... Colorado is now 2-1-1 against Minnesota this year... The Avalanche is 6-3-1 in its last nine contests overall.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Shoot your shot.

ROSTER REPORT

Brandon Saad missed his first game of the year as he was at the hospital with his wife as they were welcoming their second child into the world. Logan O'Connor entered the lineup and began the outing on a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tyson Jost. Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen started the contest as a trio while the other threesomes consisted of Nazem Kadri, Matt Calvert and Joonas Donskoi, and J.T. Compher, Valeri Nichushkin and Andre Burakovsky. The defensemen were the same as Colorado's previous game and Philipp Grubauer made his 14th start of the season.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Pavel Fraancouz (lower body) and defenseman Erik Johnson (upper body) are both out long term with injuries. Dennis Gilbert is out four-to-six weeks after having surgery to help repair his upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Colorado begins a four-game road trip with a back-to-back set at the Arizona Coyotes on Friday and Saturday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
11 Matt Calvert - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
17 Tyson Jost - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 4 Bowen Byram
27 Ryan Graves - 22 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
30 Adam Werner