After three days without ice hockey, the NHL is back Friday night with eleven games. The Minnesota Wild travel to Colorado for a meeting with the Avalanche. Which of these two teams from the Metro Division ends up taking two important points?
Blowout win in Vegas
The Colorado Avalanche hope to get back on track after the Christmas break on a positive note. Cale Makar was recently missed when the Avs lost to the St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes and the Chicago Blackhawks. The rookie defenceman is slated to return to the lineup against the Minnesota Wild. Colorado bounced back from two defeats with Christmas around the corner, scoring another blowout win in Las Vegas, defeating the Golden Knights 7-3.
Vegas was haunted by ex-teammate Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who scored two goals. At the moment Colorado is in second in the Central Division, a guaranteed playoff spot at the end of the regular season. The Avs are firing on al cilinders, with an average of 3.62 goals per game they are the most productive team of the NHL. Nathan MacKinnon is going through a dream season, with 55 points (21 goals, 34 assists), but also Pavel Francouz makes a huge impression as a backup goalie.
Wild shutting out Calgary
The Minnesota Wild know it's not going to be an easy task this season to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Competition in the Central Division is fierce and the current sixth place will not be enough at the end of the regular season. Nevertheless, they're just three points behind Winnipeg and Dallas for the final guaranteed playoff spot, so Minnesota is expected to continue competing until the end of the season.
The Wild average 3.08 goals against per game this season, just a couple of teams conceded more goals this season than Minnesota, so coach Bruce Boudreau has thing to work on, on the defensive end. Minnesota lot three of their last four games, but blanked Calgary at home in their last game before the Christmas break, winning 3-0. It was goalie Devan Dubnyk's first shutout of the season. Luke Kunin scored the 2-0 and drew an assists on the third goal, an empy-netter by Eric Staal.
Francouz continues to impress as a goalie of the Avs. With him on the ice, Colorado won ten of their last eleven games. The hockey is scoring in bunches, while Minnesota certainly has a hard time finding the net in away games. MacKinnon took Colorado by the hand when his fellow attackers Landeskog and Rantanen were injured and had to watch from the side due to injuries. By now the top line is reunited and head coach Jared Bednar can fall back on one of the strongest top lines of the NHL.
