Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche takes on the Minnesota Wild for the second time in less than a week. Colorado won the last matchup between these two clubs on April 4 by a final score of 5-2. This will be the fourth and final regular-season matchup between these two teams.
Colorado Avalanche (48-24-6)
The Avs come into this game looking to hopefully break this slump that they’ve found themselves in as of late, for lack of a better term. Their last two games against the Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars were, let’s say less than ideal outcomes. Furthermore, something that was specifically less than ideal in the Dallas game was the amount of scoring chances that Colorado gave up. Giving up 40 scoring chances to one of the top teams in the West is not a recipe that is going to win you hockey games. As there are now just four games left in the regular season, you need to tighten up those defensive details to prepare for the playoffs.
The Avs are going back with Alexandar Georgiev in net here tonight. Jared Bednar acknowledged the lack of defense in Colorado’s last game against Dallas, as seen by the quote above. Would you like a save in that game, sure. But when the team in front of Georgiev gives up 19 high-danger chances, 40 scoring chances as a whole, and the penalty kill goes 0-for-3 on the night, you can’t expect your goaltender to bail you out that much when he’s getting no help up front. Hopefully, tonight goes a little differently on the defensive front.
Projected Lines
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Artturi Lehkonen (62)
Zach Parise (9) – Casey Mittelstadt (37) – Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Brandon Duhaime (12) – Ross Colton (20) – Yakov Trenin (73)
Andrew Cogliano (11) – Chris Wagner (14) – Joel Kiviranta (94)
Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Jack Johnson (3) – Sean Walker (26)
Alexandar Georgiev (40)
Minnesota Wild (37-30-10)
The Wild come into tonight’s game off of a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Jesper Wallstedt made 24 saves in that game and earned his first career shutout. In what some people might consider a disappointing season for Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov continues to roll this season and be a bright spot for this Wild team. He netted goals number 40 and 41 on the year on Sunday.
Projected Lines
Kirill Kaprizov (97) – Marco Rossi (23) – Mats Zuccarello (36)
Marcus Johansson (90) – Joel Eriksson Ek (14) – Matt Boldy (12)
Frederick Gaudreau (89) – Marat Khusnutdinov (22) – Ryan Hartman (38)
Mason Shaw (15) – Jake Lucchini (27) – Jon Merrill (4)
Jacob Middelton (5) – Brock Faber (4)
Jonas Brodin (25) – Zach Bogosian (24)
Declan Chisholm (47) – Dakota Mermis (6)
Marc-Andre Fleury (29)
Broadcast details
Time: 7:30 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio, 92.5 FM
Opponent’s beat: Wild for Hockey