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If you think you read a preview of a game between Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche recently, you are correct.
The Wild (9-12-3) defeated the Avalanche (14-8-4) 5-3 Friday at the Xcel Energy Center. This time the two teams head to Denver to complete the home-and-home series Saturday.
The Series
This is the third meeting of the season between the two teams. The previous two games were both played at the Xcel Energy Center. The two meetings were close, well-played games with the Wild winning the first 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 21 and 5-3 Friday. Chuck Kobasew recorded a hat trick for the Wild and Mikko Koivu had three assists Friday. Also, Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist in the game. In the first meeting, Koivu had a goal and an assist. He also scored the only goal of the shootout.
Injury Report
The Wild are still without Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), Petr Sykora (concussion), Brent Burns (concussion) and Martin Havlat (hamstring).
The Avalanche will be without Matt Hendricks (groin) and Ruslan Salei (back). Also, Adam Foote (jaw) and Kyle Cumiskey (foot) did not play Friday and probably will not play Saturday. Milan Hejduk (knee) was injured in Friday’s game and is questionable for Saturday.
Avalanche Player to Watch
Chris Stewart. The right wing had a goal and an assist Friday, which gives him a three-game point scoring streak. He had assists the two previous games. He is eighth on the Avalanche with 10 points, two goals and eight assists. It is also worth noting that defenseman Kyle Quincey has two goals and an assist this season against the Wild.
Guaranteed Goal
Mikko Koivu. He was the only member of his line to not record a goal Friday, but had three assists. He is playing as well as anyone on the Wild right now. He has played a part in six of the Wild’s eight goals, including the shootout goal, against the Avalanche.
Stat of the Day
The Wild has scored at least one power play goal in each of the last three games and the Avalanche has allowed at least one in each of the last four games. The Avalanche have allowed at least one in nine of the last 11 games.
Final Score Prediction
Wild 3, Avalanche 2. It should be a lower scoring game than Friday’s, but the Wild are playing better than Avalanche right now and have an edge in the head-to-head matchups. The most interesting question entering the game is what goaltenders will we see. Will the Avalanche give Craig Anderson a night off in favor of Peter Budaj? Anderson started 24 of the Avalanche’s 26 games. Budaj has not been spectacular this season with a 4.29 goals against average and .855 save percentage in three games. For the Wild between the pipes, there are two solid options in Niklas Backstrom, who played Friday, and Josh Harding. Harding has not played since Nov. 13.
