Preview: The Wild visit the new state of Hockey

The Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche are gearing up for a great matchup for top dog in the Central Division tonight at the Ball Arena in Denver, CO. Can Colorado reclaim its division throne? Or is the Wild sending a message to the champions? The Avalanche have not lost to the Wild this season and won the last shootout 3-2.

Colorado has its best look yet at clinching first place in the Central with a win tonight. Ball Arena should roar as much as it did after last year’s playoffs. This is what it’s all about late in the regular season. Two excellent teams are competing for division supremacy, but there are a few games left. Can’t we break out the pom poms early?

The Avalanche can secure a season sweep of the Wild tonight, something Colorado hasn’t accomplished since 2017-18. All signs point to this being a fast-paced, high-octane match that is likely to be full of momentum. Hopefully, the Avalanche can return to their experience and ride the emotional pendulum that comes with the playoff atmosphere. That’s what we’re getting tonight. As for the headline, Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar gives it to you!

Planned configuration:

Valeri Nichushkin Nathan MacKinnon Mikko Rantanen
Alex Newhook JT Compfer Evan Rodrigues
Denis Malgin’s Lars or Matt Nieto
Andrew Cogliano Darren Helm Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews Cale Makar
Samuel Girard Bowen Byram
Jack Johnson Erik Johnson

Note: Colorado currently has four injured players. Gabe Landeskog and Pavel Francouz are on IR, Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson are listed as “OUT”.

Minny is a versatile club, and it is not without the elite performance of Karill Kaprisov, who has been out for some time. They are 7-1-2 in their last ten games and have gotten excellent goaltending recently. Marc Andre Fleury has found the fountain of youth this season, winning eight of his last ten starts, but that seems unsustainable. Filip Gustavsson has also been good, winning six of his last ten starts. If the Wild steal games in the playoffs behind their net presence, they could prove to be a real threat in the West.

Watch young Matt Boldy score his first career hat-trick Seattle Kraken In the final race of the Wilds. He has recorded an assist against the Avalanche in each of his past two games and is the player Bowen Byram dropped the gloves with.

Planned configuration:

Marcus Foligno Ryan Hartman Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson Joel Eriksson Ek Matthew Boldy
Brandon Duhaime Frederick Gaudreau Oskar Sundqvist
Mason Shaw Connor Dewar Ryan Reaves

Jacob Middleton Jared Spurgeon
Mathew Dumba by Jonas Brod
Jon Merrill Alex Goligoski

Note: The Wild will be without their most dynamic performer, Kirill Kaprizov, who has been out with a lower-body injury since March 8.

Goalkeepers

Alexandar Georgiev returns to the net after receiving a spell from Jonas Johansson Anaheim Ducks. Jo Jo looked good against the Ducks, but it’s Georgiev’s net in Colorado. He’s made that abundantly clear lately, mirroring the sentiment of all preseason opponents.

Will it be Filip Gustavsson or Marc Andre Fleury in net for the Wild tonight? Either way, the Wild have been leaning on two netminders lately. It’s a bold strategy against an Avalanche team that has scored a power-play goal in twelve straight games. My guess is that Kukka will start.