A Meeting with Minnesota
Avalanche Continue Six-Game Homestand Against Wild
Minnesota Wild (34-21-4) @ Colorado Avalanche (34-24-2)
7 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)
After a dominant win on Wednesday, the Avalanche host the Minnesota Wild for a Central Division matchup. This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, as they’ll conclude their season series on March 11th in St. Paul. The Wild will likely be without Kirill Kaprizov, their leader in goals (23) and co-leader in points (52), due to an injury.
Dominated the Devils
Nathan MacKinnon recorded his sixth-career 90-point season with two goals and an assist to help the Avalanche defeat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 at Ball Arena on Wednesday night. Martin Necas posted three assists, Cale Makar added two helpers while Artturi Lehkonen, Casey Mittelstadt and Logan O’Connor each scored a goal. In net for Colorado, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced. Lehkonen opened the scoring at 8:54 of the first period with his 24th goal of the season via a backhand shot from the doorstep. MacKinnon doubled Colorado’s lead on the power play at 2:57 of the third with his 22nd goal of the year via a shot from the left doorstep. That goal marked MacKinnon’s 100th-career power-play goal and he became the sixth player in franchise history to reach that mark. At 8:28, Jack Hughes put the Devils on the board with a one-timer from the slot. With his second goal of the night and 23rd of the season, MacKinnon gave the Avs a 3-1 lead on the power play at 14:14 when he batted the puck out of midair from below the goal line. Scoring his 10th goal of the season, Mittelstadt put the Avs ahead 4-1 with a backhand shot from the right circle at 16:40. Logan O’Connor scored his seventh goal of the year at 18:18 with a shot from the slot set up by Parker Kelly’s slick feed to put the Avs up 5-1.
Avs at the Peak
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the league in points (90) and assists (67).
All Hail Cale
Among defensemen, Makar is first in points (66) and goals (22) while being tied for second in assists (44). He’s also tied for ninth among all skaters in assists.
A Marty Party
Necas is seventh in the league in assists (47).
History
In 127 previous regular-season meetings against the Wild, the Avalanche are 64-48-15. In their two prior meetings this season, the Avs won 6-1 in St. Paul on January 9th and the Wild won 3-1 at Ball Arena on January 20th.
A Loss to Utah
The Wild lost 3-2 to the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on Thursday. Utah scored twice in the first period courtesy of power-play goals from Barrett Hayton at 3:59 and Dylan Guenther at 19:30. In the second period, Frederick Gaudreau put the Wild within one at 16:02 before Sean Durzi regained Utah’s two-goal advantage at 17:50. Utah scored three times in the third period with goals from Nick Schmaltz at 3:47, Clayton Keller at 9:30 and Logan Cooley at 15:01.
Going Wild Against Minnesota
MacKinnon has posted 62 points (23g/39a) in 49 regular-season games against the Wild in addition to 10 points (2g/8a) in seven playoff games.
In 23 regular-season games against Minnesota, Makar has recorded 21 points (5g/16a).
Devon Toews has registered 13 points (2g/11a) in 19 regular-season games against the Wild.
Scoring in St. Paul
Matt Boldy leads the Wild in assists (31), is tied for the team lead in points (52) and tied for second in goals (21).
Rossi is tied for second on the team in goals (21) and assists (29) while being third in points (50).
Mats Zuccarello is fourth on the Wild in points (36), goals (12) and assists (24).
A Numbers Game
67
MacKinnon’s 67 assists through 60 games in a single season are the second most in franchise history behind Peter Stastny’s 68 helpers through 60 contests in 1981-82.
13
Individual Avs players have posted at least three assists in a game 13 times this season, the most in the NHL.
11
MacKinnon is 11 points away from becoming the 100th player in league history to reach 1,000 career points.
Quote That Left a Mark
"It's just a different setup. I'm going to the net a little bit more with [Necas]...he [was] such a good half-wall player in Carolina obviously. I watched a lot of video on him when he came here, and he was so good on the half wall. So I don't want to hog it too much. And I think a little rotation is always pretty good. I think it confuses [the defense] a little bit."
-- Nathan MacKinnon on playing alongside Martin Necas on the power play
