The Colorado Avalanche will look to sweep the season series with the Minnesota Wild when the teams collide in Denver on Tuesday night.
Colorado (48-24-6, 102 points) has won the first three games in the season series — including a 5-2 decision at Minnesota last Thursday.
The Avalanche trail the Stars by five points for the top spot in the Central Division after falling 7-4 to visiting Dallas on Sunday.
Colorado, third in the Western Conference, has dropped back-to-back games and is 5-4-1 over its past 10.
“I liked our game against Minny, actually. I didn’t have a problem with the game against Minny at all. They put a push on when we were down. The power play turned the momentum in Minny a little,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “(The power play) turned it (on Sunday against Dallas), obviously. We gave up three in the second period against a dangerous power play. I don’t love the way we’re checking right now. I think it’s certainly curable, though.”
Forward Mikko Rantanen, second on Colorado in points with 102 (40 goals, 62 assists) in 77 games, remains in concussion protocol after being hit by Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm in Friday’s loss at Edmonton.
Nathan MacKinnon has three goals and seven assists in his past five games. The Avalanche forward has 133 points (48 goals, 85 assists) and trails Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning by three points for the NHL lead. MacKinnon’s linemate, Jonathan Drouin, has five goals and two assists in his past five games.
Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is 37-17-4 with a 2.96 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage in 60 games this season. Georgiev has won both his starts against the Wild in 2023-24, posting a 1.47 GAA and a .941 save percentage.
The Wild (37-31-9, 83 points) head to Colorado following a 4-0 blanking of the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
Minnesota, sixth in the Central Division, entered Monday nine points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with five games remaining.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and added a helper in Sunday’s win. The Wild forward, who has a team-leading 41 goals to go along with 48 assists, has points in seven straight games (five goals, seven assists).
“His fitness level is really impressive, but to me, (it’s) more his ability to recover,” Wild coach John Hynes said of Kaprizov. “He can come on (the bench) after a shift, and I can look down 20-25 seconds later, and he’s not breathing heavy at all. And he’s ready to go.
“That’s nice to have, when you have a player like him who has the engine he has to be able to play big minutes. And we all see the way that he competes. It’s not like he’s out there floating around. He’s in the game.”
Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello has assists in three straight games.
Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson is 19-17-4 this season with a 3.07 GAA and a .900 save percentage in 43 games. Gustavsson is 0-2-1 in three appearances against the Avalanche this season, posting a .910 save percentage and a 3.00 GAA.
–Field Level Media