ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild (22-9-5) has been nearly flawless for six weeks. Since Nov. 7, they’re 17-2-2 and rolling through opponents. they face the Colorado Avalanche (25-2-7) for a huge matchup.
The last time these two teams met the Wild ended the Avalanche’s 10-game winning streak in a shootout victory.
Here are tonight's news and notes for the game.
Minnesota is 62-55-13 all-time against the Avalanche and 35-26-5 on home ice. The Wild’s 35 all-time home wins over Colorado is their most against any single opponent, while their 137 points and 62 wins ranks second.
Connections:
Forward Yakov Trenin recorded two goals and three points in 16 games with the Avalanche in 2023-24. Colorado defenseman Brent Burns was selected by Minnesota in the first round (20th overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft and collected 183 points (55-128=183) and 325 PIM in 453 games with the Wild across seven seasons
Avs forward Brock Nelson is from Warroad and defenseman Sam Malinski is from Lakeville.
Stats:
Vladimir Tarasenko leads Minnesota with 35 points (15-20=35) in 47 games against Colorado. Mats Zuccarello owns 33 points in 35 career games and Kirill Kaprizov has 14 goals and 22 points in 18 games against the Avalanche.
Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with goals with 24, assists with 41 and points with 65 in 52 career games against Minnesota. Gabe Landeskog has 21 goals and 43 points in 50 games and defenseman Cale Makar has 23 points in 26 games against the Wild.
Filip Gustavsson is 2-7-1 with a 3.81 GAA and a .884 SV% in nine starts against Colorado. Jesper Wallstedt is 1-0-0 with a 1.85 GAA and a .951 SV% in his lone start.
Mackenzie Blackwood has a 2-4-2 record with a 2.72 GAA and a .904 SV% in eight career starts vs. Minnesota. Wedgewood is 1-2-2 with a 2.70 GAA and a .913 SV% in six games (four starts) against the Wild.
Milestones:
Tarasenko has four goals and six points during an active three-game point streak and has five goals and nine points in his last seven games.
Kirill Kaprizov is currently tied for second in franchise history with 145 power-play points (70-75=145).
Trenin notched nine hits against the Oilers which tied his season high. He leads the NHL with 179 hits, the highest total in franchise history through a season’s first 36 games.
Matt Boldy and Kaprizov were Minnesota’s co-leaders in goals in November, with each player scoring 10 goals in 14 games. It marked the first time in team history that the Wild had two players each score 10 or more goals in the same calendar month.
Both Boldy and Kaprizov have over 20 goals this season. They are the only team in the NHL to have multiple players hit that mark.
Boldy extend his active goal and point streaks to four games (5 goals and 3 assists), tying his career-long goal streak set earlier this season. He has seven goals and seven assists in his last eight games.
Kaprizov is 11 points away from passing Marian Gaborik for second all-time in career points with the Wild.
Records:
Minnesota has won seven consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NHL, tied for the team’s longest streak of the season and tied for the fourth longest in franchise history.
All seven of the Wild's wins in the current winning streak have come in regulation, tying the franchise record for most consecutive wins in regulation.
The Wild rank third in the NHL with 49 points (22-9-5) and hold an active 14-game home point streak (12-0-2) since Nov. 1, the longest run in franchise history and the second-longest streak in the NHL this season (COL, active 16 game streak).
Minnesota is 19-3-2 (.833) since Nov. 1, ranking first in the NHL in wins, points (40), team GAA (1.76) and team SV% (.939) while ranking second with a plus-37 goal differential.
Minnesota is 22-9-5 which is third in the Central Division and third in the NHL.
Minnesota is 8-2-0 in its last ten games and 19-3-2 since Nov 1. ranking first in the NHL in wins.
Colorado is 25-2-7 which is first in the Central Division and first in the NHL.
Colorado is 8-1-1 in its last ten games and 18-1-3 since Nov 1. Ranks third in the NHL in that span. They have scored 91 goals in that span which ranks second behind the Dallas Stars.
The Avalanche have allowed the second-fewest goals with 45 since then and rank only behind the Wild's 43. Colorado is leading the NHL in shots per game with 35 since Nov 1.
Colorado leads the NHL with 41 goals scored in the first period. The Wild are second in goals allowed in the first period and first since Nov 1.
The Wild are 17-3-3 when scoring first. They trail the Avalanche who are 18-1-4 when scoring first.
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