Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Colorado

The essentials

ST. PAUL -- For the first time in franchise history, the Wild will play its 100th game against an opponent when the Colorado Avalanche come to Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.
A victory would give the Wild 50 wins in the series as Minnesota holds a 49-39-11 record against Colorado in 99 regular season meetings. The two teams have also met three times in the postseason, with the Wild advancing twice, including in its most recent matchup in 2014.

The Central Division rivals will face off for the second time this season on Saturday; the Avalanche scored a 4-1 win on Opening Night in Denver on Oct. 4. Zach Parise scored the first goal of the game to give the Wild a 1-0 lead before four unanswered tallies by the Avs. Colorado led 2-1 late in the contest before adding a pair of empty-net tallies.
The game marks the final home game for the Wild until Nov. 13. The 17-day stretch between games at Xcel Energy Center is the longest such stretch for Minnesota this season.

Mr. 1,000

• Ryan Suter skated in his 1,000th NHL game Thursday vs. Los Angeles. He became the 325th player (322nd skater) and 109th defenseman in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. The 33-year-old is also the sixth player to play his 1,000th game in a Wild sweater. The Wild will honor Suter for reaching 1,000 games in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday.

Grand Finnish

• Mikael Granlund extended his point streak to six games by netting a shorthanded, empty-net goal Thursday. He has tallied seven points (4-3=7) during the streak, the longest point streak by a Wild player this season and is T-2nd in the NHL amongst active point steaks.
• He ranks T-1st on the team in goals, T-3rd in scoring, T-4th in assists and fifth in shots (23).
• His goal in Thursday's contest marked his sixth career SHG and eight career ENG, both rank T-4th in franchise history.

Series notes

WILD LEADERS: Koivu leads the Wild with 47 points (18-29=47) in 68 games against Colorado…Parise owns 34 points (15-19=34) in 33 contests…D Ryan Suter has 30 points (2-28=30) in 58 matches…RW Mikael Granlund owns 19 points (4-15=19) in 24 games…C Charlie Coyle has 15 points (8-7=15) in 28 contests.
WILD GOALIES:Dubnyk is 16-12-1 with a 2.41 GAA, a .923 SV% and four shutouts in 31 career starts vs. the Avalanche - his most wins and shutouts against an NHL team…G Alex Stalock is 3-2-0 with a 2.08 GAA and a .913 SV% in seven games (four starts).
AVALANCHE LEADERS: LW Gabriel Landeskog leads the Avalanche with 24 points (11-13=24) in 34 matches against Minnesota…MacKinnon has 20 points (9-11=20) in 23 games… Rantanen has 14 points (5-9=14) in 11 matches…C Colin Wilson owns 13 points (4-9=13) in 33 contests.
AVALANCHE GOALIES: Varlamov is 12-12-1 with a 2.29 GAA, a .927 SV% and one shutout in 26 games (25 starts) vs. the Wild…G Philipp Grubauer won his sole career start making 32 saves (2/15/18).

Did you know?

The Wild is 12-7-1 record against the Avalanche in the last 20 matches, including six shutout victories…Minnesota has outscored Colorado, 54-47, and has outshot the Avalanche, 650-552 in those 20 games, including a Wild shootout goal.