MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
COLORADO AVALANCHE
All-Time Wild Record: 58-50-12 (33-23-5 at Xcel Energy Center, 25-27-7 at Colorado)
2022-23: Minnesota is 0-2-0 this season against Colorado…The Avalanche earned a 6-3 victory in St. Paul in the series-opening game (10/17) and a 3-2 win at Xcel Energy Center in the second game (2/15)…D Calen Addison (0-3=3), LW Kirill Kaprizov (3-0=3) and RW Mats Zuccarello (0-3=3) lead Minnesota with three points each…LW Matt Boldy (0-2=2) and C Joel Eriksson Ek (2-0=2) have both posted two points…G Filip Gustavsson stopped 32 of 37 shots faced for the Wild in the first meeting…G MarcAndre Fleury saved 16 of 19 shots faced for Minnesota in the second game…C Nathan MacKinnon has five points (2-3=5) to lead Colorado…W Valeri Nichushkin (1-2=3) and D Samuel Girard (1-2=3) own three points each…G Alexander Georgiev is 2-0-0 with a 2.50 GAA and a .939 SV% in two starts for the Avalanche.
WILD LEADERS: Zuccarello leads Minnesota with 26 points (5-21=26) in 25 matches against Colorado…D Alex Goligoski has 21 points (4-17=21) in 43 games…D Jared Spurgeon owns 20 points (5-15=20) in 57 contests…C Ryan Hartman owns 16 points (9-7=16) in 31 contests…D John Klingberg has 16 points (2-14=16) in 28 games.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 16-12-3 with a 2.53 GAA, a .915 SV% and three shutouts in 32 career games (31 starts) against Colorado…Gustavsson is 0-2-0 with a 5.72 GAA and a .856 SV% in two starts against Colorado.
AVALANCHE LEADERS: MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 49 points (17-32=49) in 42 games against Minnesota…RW Mikko Rantanen has 35 points (14-21=35) in 30 contests…C Andrew Cogliano has 18 points (7-11=18) in 62 games…D Cale Makar owns 17 points (4-13=15) in 16 matches.
AVALANCHE GOALIES: Georgiev is 3-2-0 with a 3.35 GAA and a .902 SV% in five starts…G Pavel Francouz is 3-3=0 with a 3.39 GAA and a .897 SV% in four games (three starts)…G Jonas Johanson has allowed one goal on one shot against in his lone game appearance against Minnesota (4/7/21).
FAST FACTS: Minnesota has 58 wins and 128 points against Colorado all-time, second-most against any franchise…Minnesota defeated Colorado in seven games in the 2003 First Round and the 2014 First Round…The Avalanche won the 2008 First Round series in six games.
INJURIES
Kirill Kaprizov: lower body
John Klingberg: upper body
Gustav Nyquist: upper body
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• Minnesota owns an active 10-game road point streak (7-0-3), thirdlongest in franchise history. The Wild’s last regulation loss on the road came Feb. 8 at DAL.
• Since Feb. 23, the Wild is tied for first in the NHL with a .934 road SV% and ranks second with a 2.20 road GAA.
ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild has converted 26.1 percent (30 of 115) of power-play opportunities at home this season, eighth-best in the NHL.
PENALTY KILLERS
• Recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games from 2/6 to 3/2. Did not allow a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season).
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Wed, Mar. 29 MINNESOTA 8 p.m. TNT 92.5 FM
Sat, April 1 DALLAS 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Tue, April 4 at San Jose 8:30 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Thu, April 6 at San Jose 8:30 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO AVALANCHE (44-23-6, 94 PTS) vs. MINNESOTA WILD (43-22-9, 95 PTS)
8:22 p.m. – Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
TNT / 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche opens a two-game homestand tonight against the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena … Minnesota leads Colorado by one point atop the Central Division standings … The Avs have won three straight games and are 9-1-0 in their last 10 … Colorado is 16-4-1 in its last 21 contests and 24-6-3 in its last 33 games, tied with Boston (25-7-1, .773) for the NHL’s best record since January 14 … Tonight ends a busy stretch that saw the Avs play 15 games in 26 days …. Colorado is 11-4-2 in its last 17 home dates … The Avs have won a season-high six straight road games, are 10-1-0 in their last 11 road contests and 13-2-1 in their last 16 away from the Mile High City.
ON THE CALL
TNT: Kenny Albert (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst), Keith Jones (between the benches)
Altitude Radio: Conor McGahey, Mark Rycroft
LAST GAME
March 27 – Colorado 5, Anaheim 1 at Honda Center
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist in his 700th career NHL game to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center … Bowen Byram also had a goal and one assist and Cale Makar added two helpers as the Avs won their third straight game overall and sixth straight on the road …. The Avs got a power-play goal from Samuel Girard and even-strength tallies from Jack Johnson and Valeri Nichushkin … Jonas Johansson stopped 29-of-30 shots in his second start of the year as the Avs improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 contests.
SF: 44 SA: 30 PP: 1-3 PK: 3-3
The Avalanche swept their back-to-back in Arizona/Anaheim … Colorado has swept six of its last eight sets of back-to-back games … Colorado improved to 15-5-2 overall in back-to-back contests, 8-2-1 on the second night The victory was Colorado’s season-high sixth straight road win … The Avs are 10-1-0 in their last 11 road contests and 13-2-1 in their last 16 away from the Mile High City Overall, the Avalanche improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, 16-4-1 in their last 21 contests and 24-6-3 in their last 33 outings Colorado’s power-play unit scored for the 12th consecutive game, the second-longest streak with a power-play goal in Avalanche history (since 1995-96) … It’s the longest streak in the NHL this season The Avalanche’s PK unit went 3-for-3 and has killed off eight straight opponent power plays … Colorado has allowed only five power-play goals in their last 14 contests (37/42, 88.1%) With two assists, Makar picked up his 63rd career multi-point game, tying Sandis Ozolinsh for the most by a defenseman in franchise history … Cale also tied Ozolinsh for the most multi-assist games by a franchise blueliner with 35 Makar passed Erik Johnson (245) for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen with 246 career points … Cale tied Ozolinsh for fourth place in career assists by a Colorado/Quebec blueliner with 181 Nichushkin has a seven-game point streak (3g/5a), tying his career high … He has 24 points (8g/16a) in his last 19 contests, including 18 points (6g/12a) in March, his most ever in a single month MacKinnon had a goal and an assist in his 700th career NHL game … He became the eighth player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to dress in 700 contests Girard’s goal was his sixth tally of the season, a new career high Jonas Johansson has won both of his starts this season, stopping 61 of 66 shots (.924%)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Mar. 24 – Erik Johnson activated from Injured Reserve … Alex Galchenyuk reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Mar. 22 – Darren Helm activated from Injured Reserve
CURRENT INJURIES
Pavel Francouz – lower body (Feb. 14 – present)
Gabriel Landeskog – knee (Oct. 12 – present)
Artturi Lehkonen – finger (March 15 – present)
Josh Manson – lower body (March 4 – present)
Total Man-Game Lost: 415
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – MINNESOTA WILD
The Avalanche and Wild wrap up the season series with the third and final meeting of 2022-23 … This is the only matchup between these two teams here in the Mile High City … The Avs won the first two contests in St. Paul … The Wild and Blackhawks are the only divisional opponents who will play the Avalanche three times this season instead of four … Colorado is 10-3-2 in its last 15 games against the Wild and 7-2-1 in its last 10.
SCHEDULE vs. WILD
Oct. 17 @ Minnesota (W, 6-3)
Feb. 15 @ Minnesota (W, 3-2)
Mar. 29 vs. MINNESOTA
RECORD vs. WILD
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS
Overall: 2-0-0 Overall: 2-1-1 Overall: 59-46-15 Series: 3 (1-2)
Home: — Home: 2-0-0 Home: 32-23-4 Record: 10-10
Road: 2-0-0 Road: 0-1-1 Road: 27-23-11 2003 CQF (L, 3-4), 2008 CQF (W, 4-2), 2014 R1 (L, 3-4)
NOTEWORTHY
Nathan MacKinnon has five points (2g/3a) in two games against the Wild this season and 49 points (17g/32a) in 42 career regular-season games versus Minnesota, his most against one opponent … MacKinnon has recorded at least two points in eight of his last nine outings against the Wild, totaling 19 points (6g/13a) over those nine contests.
2022-23 SEASON NOTES
CAUSE THE HEAT IS ON….
A look at where Colorado ranks among the league’s best over the last several months….
BEST SINCE MARCH 11 BEST SINCE FEBRUARY 15 BEST SINCE JANUARY 14
.900 Colorado 9-1-0 .810 Minnesota 15-2-4 .773 Colorado 24-6-3
.850 NY Rangers 8-1-1 .810 Boston 17-4-0 .773 Boston 25-7-1
.833 Edmonton 7-1-1 .786 Colorado 16-4-1 .742 Edmonton 20-5-6
.778 Vegas 7-2-0 .763 Los Angeles 13-3-3 .710 Carolina 21-8-2
.778 Minnesota 6-1-2 .750 Vegas 14-4-2 .694 NY Rangers 20-8-3
ONE MONTH AT A TIME
Tonight is Colorado’s final game in the month of March, with the Avalanche going 10-4-1 so far … This will mark the 27th consecutive month that Colorado has posted a .500 or better record in, a new franchise best … They topped the previous mark of 26 straight months with a .500 or better record set from March 1994 to February 1998 …. This current run, which began in February 2019, is the third-longest active streak behind the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes, who will extend their streaks to 31 and 28 months, respectively … Twenty five (25) of these last 27 months featured a winning record, as only October 2021 (4-4-0) and October 2022 (4-4-1) did not.
GRAND CENTRAL
Colorado is 16-5-1 against Central Division teams this season, 8-1-1 at home and 8-4-0 on the road … The Avs have won their last six home games versus division opponents.
THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE
Colorado’s power-play unit has scored in 12 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Avalanche history (since the franchise relocated to Denver) … The record is 14 straight contests in 1995-96 … It’s the longest streak by an NHL team this season and the longest since the Bruins had a PPG in 14 straight games from Dec. 14, 2019–Jan. 13, 2020 .. Colorado is 15-for38 (39.5%) during this 12-game stretch … The Avalanche rank third in the league in power-play percentage at 25.6% (59-230).
FIRST AND FOREMOST
The Avalanche have scored the first goal of the game on 46 occasions this year, the most of any team in the NHL … Colorado is 35-7-4 when scoring first, the third-most wins when potting the first goal behind Boston (38) and Carolina (36).
EXTRA CREDIT
The Avalanche are 13-6 in games decided past regulation, 7-3 in overtime and 6-3 in shootouts … The 13 wins beyond 60 minutes lead the league while Colorado’s .684 points percentage ranks second …. Colorado is 221-189-204 all-time in overtime contests … The Avalanche are 83-47 (.638) all-time in shootouts, the highest winning percentage of any team since the tiebreaker started in 2005-06 … The Avs have the best all-time shooting percentage at 37.6% (164/436) and the second-best save percentage at .722 (322/446) … Alexandar Georgiev, who stopped all seven attempts in Sunday’s win over the Coyotes, leads the NHL in shootout wins (5) and is second in save percentage (.793)
WORKING OVERTIME
Mikko Rantanen has tied the single season Avalanche/Nordiques franchise record with three overtime goals this year … He equaled the mark shared by Cale Makar in 2021-22, Nathan MacKinnon in 2017-18, Tyson Barrie in 2013-14 and David Jones in 2010-11 … Rantanen’s three overtime winners are tied for the league lead.
PICK SIX
The Avalanche have posted three different six-game winning streaks this season, all since the calendar flipped to 2023 … The club had a six-game winning streak in January, another in February and one in March … Only Boston (five) has more 6+ game winning streaks in 2022-23.
TAKING ADVANTAGE
The Avalanche have scored five times with a 5-on-3 advantage this season, tied with the Capitals, Penguins and Jets for the most 5-on-3 goals in the NHL …. The last time Colorado scored this many times at 5-on-3 was in 2014-15 (also five) and the last time they scored MORE goals with the 5-on-3 advantage was back in 2010-11 (six).
BACK-TO-BACK
The Avalanche just swept a back-to-back in Arizona and Anaheim this week … Colorado has swept six of its last eight sets of back-to-back games … The Avs are 15-5-2 (.727) overall in back-to-back contests this year, second best in the NHL behind only Boston (19-3-2, .833) …. Colorado is 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second, with only New Jersey (9-2-0, .818) owning a better record on the second night of a back-to-back … The Avalanche had a stretch of three consecutive sets of back-to-back games from Feb. 14-25, with the club earning 11 of a possible 12 points during that span … All three back-tobacks required travel in between (either home/road or road/home) and all three opponents on the second half of the backto-back were waiting for the Avs, with Colorado sweeping all three games … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) record
in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark behind Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs were 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second.
EAST SIDE STORY
The Avalanche finished 18-11-3 against Eastern Conference teams this year, 8-6-2 at home and 10-5-1 on the road … Since Jared Bednar was hired in 2016-17, the Avs are 108-65-18 (.613) against the Eastern Conference, which includes a 61-25-9 (.689) mark since 2019-20, the best record of any Western Conference team over the last four seasons.
