Colorado Avalanche (25-15-1, 51 pts) at Minnesota Wild (26-11-4, 56 pts)
Venue: Xcel Energy Center
Date: Thursday, January 9
Time: 6:00 pm MST / 7:00 pm CST
TV: ESPN+ / ALT / FDSN / FDSW
Radio:
Colorado Avalanche – Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM / 950 AM
Minnesota Wild– KFAN 100.3 FM
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Colorado Avalanche -1.5 ML -135
Minnesota Wild +1.5 ML +115
O/U 5.5
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Colorado Avalanche News & Notes:
In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Central Division the Avalanche travel to Minnesota to take on the Wild. Colorado is five points back of second-place Minnesota and is playing well having won four of their last five games. The Avalanche grabbed an impressive 3-1 victory in their last game over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Colorado is 13-8-0 on the road this season where they will look to take two points from the Wild.
Minnesota Wild News & Notes:
The Wild have won four in a row, including two straight at home, as they continue to try to improve on their record at the Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota is only 11-8-1 at home this season while boasting one of the NHL’s best road records. The Wild need to continue to string together some home wins as they’ll most likely have home-ice advantage in at least a round or two in the playoffs.
Colorado Avalanche Projected Lines:
Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Colton-Mittelstadt-Innala
Kiviranta-Kelly-O’Connor
Felhaber-Parssinen-DeHaan
Toews-Makar
Girard-Manson
Middleton-Malinski
Blackwood
Miner
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Minnesota Wild Projected Lines:
Boldy-Rossi-Zuccarello
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Hartman
Foligno-Gaudreau-Trenin
Shore-Khusnutdinov-Jones
Middleton-Bogosian
Dermott-Jiricek
Merrill-Chisholm
Gustavsson
Fleury
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Players To Watch:
Colorado Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon’s eight-game point streak was snapped in a 3-1 loss to Chicago last night. The dynamic center leads the NHL in scoring with 66 points (14g, 52a) in 44 games and has only been held scoreless in two straight games once all season (11/25-11/27).
Minnesota Wild
37-year-old Mats Zuccarello has stepped up in the absence of Kirill Kaprizov with three goals and four assists during the Wild’s four-game winning streak. The veteran winger has missed some time this season with injury but is almost a point-per-game player with 27 points (10g, 17a) in 28 games to help boost an offense that is currently 14th in the NHL in goals.
Injury Report:
Colorado Avalanche
RW Valeri Nichushkin – Day To Day
C Jonathan Drouin – Day To Day
G Scott Wedgewood – OUT
D Tucker Poolman – IR
LW Gabriel Landeskog – LTIR
Minnesota Wild
D Brock Faber – OUT
LW Kirill Kaprizov – IR
C Jakob Lauko – IR
D Jared Spurgeon – OUT
Next Game:
Colorado Avalanche – January 11 at Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild – January 11 at San Jose Sharks
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