The Colorado Avalanche will look to be on the attack to open their second-round series against the Minnesota Wild on home ice on Sunday night. Colorado’s home-ice advantage throughout the postseason will come into play to hopefully get their attack going for the burgundy and blue.

The Avs and Wild have plenty of playoff history, which could have an influence on this one. It’s the first time these two teams have played each other, not in the first round, and the first matchup since the infamous Game Seven overtime loss in 2014.

Colorado Avalanche (4-0-0)

Colorado has had a whole week without game action, last playing against the Los Angeles Kings in a 5-1 victory at the Crypto.com Arena. LA’s season came and went with the Avalanche taking control for the majority of the series.

But this series will play out very differently from the first round. The Avs need to attack a bit more offensively against a more talented, offensive team. Getting help from the likes of low scorers such as Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri, and Valeri Nichushkin will be key.

Of course, reliance on the usual suspects of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Scott Wedgewood will do the trick, too. However, the lineup remains uncertain with Josh Manson and Joel Kiviranta possibly being options after taking some time off the ice to recover from first-round injuries.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Ross Colton – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Gabriel Landeskog – Nazem Kadri – Nicolas Roy
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Brent Burns – Nick Blankenburg

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Minnesota Wild (4-1-1)

The Wild will be coming in with far less rest after a hefty first-round battle with the Dallas Stars. However, they managed to beat their fellow Central Division foe in six games, most recently on Thursday night in a 5-2 final.

However, the series took a chunk out of their depth. Mats Zuccarello played in only three games, playing through an upper-body injury. Jonas Brodin will not be available on the blue line, at least for Game One. Meanwhile, a big question mark remains around Joel Eriksson Ek, who is questionable to play.


But, they’ll still be kicking atop their lineup with the red-hot Matt Boldy and superstar Kirill Kaprizov. Of course, Jesper Wallstedt will also be ready to go and shut down the Avs’ potent offense to get a big road win to open the series.

Projected Lines

Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Yakov Trenin – Michael McCarron – Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Foligno – Nick Foligno – Nico Sturm

Quinn Hughes – Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Jeff Petry – Zach Bogosian

Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson

Game Details

Time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Watch: TNT, truTV, HBO Max

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950