Wild Game Day number 76 Wild Record (36-28-11 83 pts) Road Record (16-15-7)
Opponent: Colorado Avalanche (38-32-4 80 pts) Home Record (17-16-4)
Site: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Time: 2:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 10/9 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 5 10/11 Wild 3 @ Avalanche 0 2/7 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 1 2/28 Wild 3 @ Avalanche 1 3/8 Avalanche 3 @ Wild 2
Last Result: 10/8 Wild 5 @ Avalanche 4 12/5 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 3 12/7 Wild 1 @ Avalanche 2 (OT) 3/1 Avalanche 3 @ Wild 6
Not a lot needs to be said about today's matinee in Denver between the Wild and Avalanche. Three points separate the two, with Colorado having a game in hand. A Wild regulation win would put them five points up and in a very good position with just seven games left for the Avalanche. A Colorado regulation win allows the Avalanche to control their own destiny as they would draw within a point of Minnesota with a game in hand and the tiebreaker advantage in their control.
Minnesota has had the upper hand with Colorado since Nino Niederreiter's seventh game OT goal dispatched the Avalanche in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Since then the Wild are 7-1-1 versus the Avalanche and 3-0-1 in Denver over the last two seasons.
Today's game is the biggest game of the season for both teams to date, so throw the past records out the window. The winner today is going to be the team that battles the hardest for 60 minutes. The Avalanche will be physical and will do their best to make it difficult for tge Wild to get much room to operate in the offensive zone. Minnesota on the other hand will be looking to use their speed and puck movement ability to make quick passes to create offense from the transition game.
These teams do not like each other and have created a very good rivalry. Today's game is going to add another chapter to the ongoing Wild/Avalanche rivalry for sure. For the winner it may be just the game that turns them into not just a playoff team, but possibly a team that can make a real run at something bigger. Recent history has seen more than one 8th place team make it to the finals and late season wins were key in building the confidence it took to pull those teams together.
Colorado will be without two of their very best as Matt Duchene and Nathan McKinnon are both out with knee injuries. Injuries are a part of the game and often have a way of bringing teams together.
The Wild enter the game healthy and look to eclipse their longest winning streak of the season with a 5th straight victory today. The Wild have won four straight, the third such streak in twenty games since John Torchetti took over for Mike Yeo in mid February.
Let's Play Hockey!