AVALANCHE (31-16-6) at WILD (26-22-6) 7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV
Goalie Pavel Francouz is expected to start for the Avalanche, who defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday for their sixth win in seven games. Colorado leads the Dallas Stars by one point for second place in the Central Division. Devan Dubnyk will start his second straight game for Minnesota after he made 31 saves in a 3-2 win at the Stars on Friday. The Wild have won three in a row, are 6-2-0 in their past eight games and three points from the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Players to watch
Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past seven games. Wild forward Kevin Fiala has five points (three goals, two assists) in a three-game point streak.
They said it
"No excuses, we [have to] be good (today). We [have to] bring our best effort and know it's a big game. (Minnesota's) trying to chase everyone down in our division and it'd be good to separate ourselves." -- Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon "(Colorado has) got great speed and they've got some special guys on the back end. They're just a really good team, which is why they're probably one of the picks to come out of the West in the end. We have to play our absolute best to be able to beat these guys."-- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
Colorado did not skate. … Soucy returns after missing two games with illness.
Stat pack
MacKinnon has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 29 games against the Wild. … Koivu is one assist from 500 in his NHL career. … Parise has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past nine games.
