The Colorado Avalanche will face a major Central Division rival tomorrow night β and it’s not the Dallas Stars.
Instead, it’s the Minnesota Wild, the NHL’s hottest team, riding a seven-game winning streak. Saturday night, in front of a packed Grand Casino Arena, Minnesota continued its progress with a convincing 5-2 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
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Matt Boldy set the tone from the start, burying his 21st goal of the season less than four minutes into the match. A little more than seven minutes later, he struck again, finishing a play set up by Quinn Hughes and Mats Zuccarello to give Minnesota an early burst of energy.
Edmonton fought back in a hectic first period, responding with two goals. But the Wild had the last laugh before intermission, as Ryan Hartman scored a goal with just eight seconds left to restore Minnesota’s lead and send the teams to the locker room with the Wild leading 3-2.
The second period was scoreless, but Minnesota regained control in the third. Vladimir Tarasenko extended the lead to 4-2, and Nico Sturm then sealed the result, converting on a Tarasenko setup to cap the scoring.
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Filip Gustavsson was steady in net, stopping 28 of 30 shots to earn his fifth straight victory. He improved to 12-8-3 this season as the Wild outscored the Oilers 37-30 in another complete performance.
Now 22-9-5, the Wild are playing their best hockey of the season, but a tough challenge awaits Sunday night. Minnesota will be in the second leg of a back-to-back against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche (25-2-7).
Last night at Ball Arena, the Avalanche (25-2-7) earned their 12th straight home victory with a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, extending their winning streak to four games.
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Brent Burns scored the game-winner, his fifth of the season, making him the fourth defenseman in NHL history to score at least five goals in a season when he was 40 or older.
Martin NeΔas and Parker Kelly also scored for Colorado, while Josh Manson added two assists and was named the game’s first star. The Avalanche improved to 14-0-2 at home and extended their point streak to seven games (6-0-1).
Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves to secure the victory.
The two teams last met on November 28 at the same venue, where the Wild earned a 3β2 shootout victory. Scott Wedgewood made 35 saves for Colorado, while Nathan MacKinnon recorded two points, including a goal. Gabe Landeskog scored a crucial late goal to force overtime.
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Kirill Kaprizov scored both regulation goals for Minnesota before the game was decided in the shootout.
The Wild have won three of their last five meetings against the Avalanche β an impressive turnaround after losing their previous five meetings. During that span, MacKinnon has three goals and three assists against Minnesota, while Kaprizov has four goals and three assists in his last five games against Colorado. Prior to the Nov. 28 game, Kaprizov missed three straight games against the Avalanche due to injury.
Avalanche vs. Wild starts at 4 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon. This should be a classic.
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