The Minnesota Wild will play the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. Let’s take a look at the Wild preview, Avalanche preview, betting matchup, and the Wild vs Avalanche prediction.
Wild Preview
The Minnesota Wild are 30-27-6 this season after they defeated the Coyotes by a score of 5-2 in their last game. Minnesota trailed 2-1 in the third period, but they scored the last four goals in the game for the win. The Wild out shot Arizona by a total of 28-25 and went 1-2 on the power play in the game. Minnesota defeated the Sharks by a score of 4-3 in the game prior to Arizona, but lost the previous three games. The Wild are scoring 3.08 goals per game and they are allowing 3.32 goals against per game, while going 21.8% on the power play and 74.5% on the penalty kill. Kirill Kaprizov has led Minnesota with 29 goals, 37 assists, and 195 shots on goal. The projected starting goalie for Minnesota is Filip Gustavsson, who is 17-15-3 this year with a 3.30 goals against average and a .892 save percentage.
Avalanche Preview
The Colorado Avalanche are 39-20-5 this year after they defeated the Red Wings by a score of 7-2 in their last game. Colorado trailed 2-1 in the first period, but they scored the last six goals in the game for the blowout win. The Avalanche out shot Detroit by a total of 54-29 and went 2-6 on the power play in the game. Colorado defeated Chicago by a score of 5-0 in the game prior to Detroit, but lost to Nashville before that. The Avalanche are scoring 3.70 goals per game and they are allowing 3.05 goals against per game, while going 24.4% on the power play and 80.5% on the penalty kill. Nathan MacKinnon has led Colorado with 40 goals, 69 assists, and 310 shots on goal. The projected starting goalie for Colorado is Alexandar Georgiev, who is 32-15-3 this season with a 2.89 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
Wild vs Avalanche Betting Prediction
Colorado comes into this matchup playing great hockey and they have won four of their last five games. The Avalanche have out scored their opponents by a total of 23-8 in their last five games, which includes a 5-1 loss against Nashville. Minnesota hasn’t been great recently and they will be on a back to back after playing Arizona on Thursday. The Wild are below .500 on the road, while Colorado is 25-6-0 at home. The Avalanche are one of the best teams in the NHL when they are on home ice and they have been scoring a ton of goals recently. Take Colorado -1.5 here.