Colorado Avalanche (24-16-1) @ Minnesota Wild (26-11-4)
6 p.m. MT | Xcel Energy Center | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
In the second part of a back-to-back, the Avalanche travel north to face their Central Division foes, the Minnesota Wild. This is the first matchup between the teams this season, as they'll play again in St. Paul on March 11, then in Denver a bit sooner on January 20 and February 28.
Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, who leads Minnesota in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50), will likely be out of the lineup on Thursday due to an injury.
Latest Result (COL): COL 1, CHI 3
Latest Result (MIN): STL 4, MIN 6
A Loss in Chicago
The Avalanche lost 3-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Wednesday. Juuso Parssinen scored his first goal with the Avs while Trent Miner made 17 saves in his first-career NHL start. Parssinen opened the scoring with his third goal of the season via a top-shelf backhand shot from the bottom of the right circle at 6:14 of the first period. Chicago evened the score with a goal from Ilya Mikheyev at 16:48 of the opening frame. Throughout the first period, the Avalanche had several high-danger chances, but were unable to capitalize on them. At 10:17 of the second period, Frank Nazar gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead with a goal off the rush. Connor Bedard doubled Chicago’s lead with the game’s final goal via a right-circle wrist shot at 11:54 of the third period.
At the Peak of the Leaderboards
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (66) and assists (52).
All Hail Cale
Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (13) and points (49) while ranking second in assists (36). Among all skaters, he’s tied for seventh in assists and 10th in points.
Moose Crossing
Rantanen is tied for second in goals (24), tied for third in points (58) and tied for eighth in assists (34).
History
In 125 previous regular-season meetings, the Avalanche are 63-47-15 against the Wild, including 8-2-1 in their last 11. In the playoffs, the teams have met three times, all in the Western Conference quarterfinals. The Wild beat the Avalanche in seven games in 2003 and 2014, and the Avs won in six games in 2008.
Outscoring St. Louis
The Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 at the Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday. Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Zach Bogosian at 1:23 and Jon Merrill at 2:12. Pavel Buchnevich put St. Louis on the board with a goal at 13:26 of the first to cut Minnesota’s lead in half. In the second period, St. Louis took a 4-2 lead after goals from Jordan Kyrou at 1:24, Jake Neighbours at 2:51 and Robert Thomas at 4:33. At 9:41 of the second, Joel Eriksson Ek scored to put the Wild within a goal. In the third period, Jake Middleton tied the game at 1:16 before Matt Boldy gave Minnesota a 5-4 lead at 3:57. At 19:24 of the third, Marcus Johansson scored an empty-net goal to put the Wild up 6-4.
Scoring in the Wild
In 47 regular-season games against the Wild, MacKinnon has posted 59 points (21g/38a). In seven playoff games against Minnesota, he’s posted 10 points (2g/8a).
Rantanen has recorded 37 points (15g/22a) in 34 regular-season games against the Wild.
In 21 games against the Wild, Makar has registered 21 points (5g/16a).
Wild Leading the Way
Marco Rossi is second on the Wild in points (37) and assists (22) while ranking tied for second in goals (15).
Boldy is tied for second in goals (15) while ranking third in points (35) and assists (20).
Mats Zuccarello is fourth on the team in goals (10), assists (17) and points (27).
A Numbers Game
400
Casey Mittelstadt is scheduled to skate in the 400th regular-season game of his NHL career in his home state. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native has posted 222 points (74g/148a) in 399 games leading into Thursday’s contest.
170
Mackenzie Blackwood’s 170 high-danger saves are tied for the eighth most among NHL goalies.
46
MacKinnon’s 46 even-strength points (11g/35a) are the most in the NHL.
Quote That Left a Mark
“I felt like we had a lot of chances tonight. Just, it seemed at times our execution wasn't there. Whether it was through the neutral zone or D zone, also just letting them get their [blue] line easy a couple times that results in the goals."
-- Cale Makar on Wednesday’s game
