Game Preview: Avalanche eye third place in Central Division against Minnesota Wild

DENVER — A perfect way to end the shortest month of the year? Some Colorado Avalanche hockey of course!

The Avalanche take on the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Ball Arena, as they continue to rebound after a slow start out of the Four Nations Face-Off break. In this fourth game after the break, they’ll look to break even at .500.

This will also be the third regular season matchup between these two sides. Both are battling it out for third in the Central Division. A win tonight for either side is huge for their case.

Colorado Avalanche (34-24-2)

Colorado is 1-2 since the break, with two letdown losses to the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues. But they did pull away in the end against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night in a 5-1 final.

They continue to be a better team on home ice, winning the last three games at Ball Arena dating back to before the break. This is thanks to the 10th-best home power play record, which was solidified with two goals on the man advantage on Wednesday—both from Nathan MacKinnon.

Plus, MacKinnon and company finally got some help with depth scoring. Casey Mittelstadt and Logan O’Connor both scored late goals to pad and solidify the lead. Can Colorado get more of the same this evening to propel them up to third in the division and a birthday win for Jared Bednar?

The Lines:

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin – Casey Mittelstadt – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Joel Kiviranta
Miles Wood – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Samuel Girard – Oliver Kylington
Calvin de Haan – Sam Malinski

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Scratches: Keaton Middleton, Juuso Parssinen, Josh Manson

Minnesota Wild (34-21-4)

Battered almost to the bone, the Minnesota Wild come to town looking for anything positive they can. Their last result was far from it, as they were blown out last night against the Utah Hockey Club 6-1.

Minnesota has stumbled from competing for the Central Division title thanks to injuries. Despite being 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, they currently are on a two-game skid.

They again will be without star Russian Kirill Kaprizov, plus Joel Eriksson Ek who was recently hurt in practice. He is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Regardless, can the shorthanded Wild get its second win over the Avalanche this season and keep a hold of third in the division?

The Lines:

Marcus Foligno – Marco Rossi – Mats Zucarello
Matt Boldy – Frederick Gaudreau – Vinnie Hinostroza
Marcus Johansson – Marat Khunsnutdinov – Liam Ohgren
Jakub Lauko – Devin Shore – Yakov Trenin