The Colorado Avalanche will face the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. MT in Edmonton, Alberta, in its only exhibition game before the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
The game marks the first time the Avs have played competitive hockey since the NHL paused the season on March 12 due to coronavirus concerns.
Colorado finished the regular season with a 42-20-8 record and 92 points, tied for the third most points in the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Avs also concluded the year averaging 3.37 goals per game, the third best in the league.
The Avalanche last played on March 11, defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime at Pepsi Center. Tyson Jost and Vladislav Namestnikov scored in regulation and J.T. Compher netted the overtime goal to secure the victory.
Minnesota defeated the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in overtime on March 8 in Anaheim. Kevin Fiala notched two goals, while Alex Galchenyuk, Victor Rask and Mats Zuccarello each netted one in the Wild's win.
Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild
Rogers Place | Edmonton, Alberta
| Game Time: | 12:30 p.m. MT |
| --- | --- |
| TV: | Altitude, NHL Network, Fox Sports-North (MIN) -- Blackouts Apply |
| Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) |
| Live Streams: | NHL.tv, AltitudeNow.com, Official app (blackouts apply to all) |
| Online Audio: | Listen Live Here |
| Follow: | @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |
COLORADO-MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS
Erik Johnson is from Bloomington, Minnesota, and played one season at the University of Minnesota (2006-07)… Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson played for the Avs in 2003-04.
Playing in Edmonton, Avalanche center Tyson Jost is from the Edmonton suburb of St. Albert… Defenseman Kevin Connauton is from Edmonton... Cale Makar and Logan O'Connor are from Calgary… Makar played for the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League from 2014-2017… Assistant coach Nolan Pratt is from Fort McMurray, Alberta, and spent part of his childhood in Edmonton... Colorado assistant coach Ray Bennett is from Innisfail, Alberta.
HISTORY
The Avs went 2-2-0 against Minnesota during the 2019-20 regular season. The division rivals last faced off on Feb. 9 in Minnesota when Colorado claimed a 3-2 victory. The Avalanche also won 4-2 on Oct. 5 but fell 6-4 on Dec. 27 and 3-2 on Nov. 21. They were scheduled to meet one more time on March 23 before the season paused.
Colorado owns a 50-43-13 all-time mark again the Wild. The last time the teams met in the playoffs was in 2014, when Minnesota won the first round series 4-3. They have met three total times in the playoffs (2003, 2008) with the Avs winning in 2008.
ROSTER REPORT
Colorado has 17 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders on its 31-man roster in Edmonton. Head coach Jared Bednar said on Tuesday that goalies Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz will split time in net in the exhibition matchup. The Avs lineup for the contest will also feature 13 forwards and seven rear guards.
INJURY UPDATE
The Avalanche arrived in Edmonton with a healthy roster.
SCOUTING THE WILD
The Wild completed the regular season with a 35-27-7 mark and 77 points to rank 21st in the league and sixth in the Central Division. Minnesota won 30 of its 69 games played in regulation to tie for ninth in the league. The Wild won seven of its last 10 games of the regular season, including winning two by five or more goals.
Minnesota scored on 21.3 percent of its power-play opportunities and killed 77.2 percent of its penalties during the regular season. The Wild scored 218 goals this season, averaging 3.16 goals per game.
Andre Burakovsky finished the regular season with 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) to rank third on the Avalanche. He set career-highs in all three categories, as well as recording a personal-best for power-play points with 11 (two goals, nine assists). This postseason is set to be Burakovsky's sixth consecutive playoff appearance, including his Stanley Cup win with the Washington Capitals in 2018.
The left wing has earned 190 career points (82 goals, 108 assists) in 386 games. He's tallied 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 56 playoff games.
(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Kevin Fiala
Kevin Fiala leads the Wild with 54 points (23 goals, 31 assists) in 64 games played this season. He also leads the team with 36 even-strength points (14 goals, 22 assists) and is tied for the lead with 18 power-play points (nine goals, nine assists). Fiala scored four game-winning goals this season to tie for second on Minnesota and is one of three Wild players with an overtime goal.
NUMBERS GAME
4
The Avalanche finished 4-0-0 in afternoon games this season, outscoring the opposition 22-9.
24
Colorado went 24-11-2 away from Pepsi Center this season and its 24 wins led the NHL. The Avalanche's 50 points on the road this season were also more than any other team.
140
It has been 140 days since the Avs played competitive hockey. Colorado's last game before the NHL paused its season was a 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on March 11.
162
Colorado scored 162 goals during 5-on-5 play this season, tied for the most in the league (Tampa Bay Lightning).
223
The Avs totaled 223 man-games missed during the regular season due to an injury or illness at some point during the season.
NOTEBOOK
The Avs scored 73 goals in the first period and 95 in the second, leading the league in both categories… Colorado's 37 regulation wins--the first tiebreaker--were four more than the next closest Western Conference team (St. Louis Blues; 33)… The Avalanche scored the first goal of the game 43 times this season to lead the NHL… Colorado's offseason additions Andre Burakovsky (20), Nazem Kadri (19), Joonas Donskoi (16), Valeri Nichushkin (13) and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (nine) account for 77 of the team's 236 goals, or 33 percent… The Avs finished 14-4-2 in their last 20 games, the NHL's second-best record since Feb. 4… Ryan Graves led the NHL with a plus-40 rating and became the first Avs player to lead the league in that category since Milan Hejduk and Peter Forsberg (plus-52) in 2002-03… Colorado won a franchise-record nine straight road games from Feb. 4 to March 2.
