Stanley Cup champion Avalanche missing Cale Makar, Gabe Landeskog when facing Wild
Despite skating shorthanded, Colorado has gone 7-2-1 over its past 10 games.
Avalanche update: Colorado played host to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, a rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Final. Before that, the Avalanche went 7-2-1 over their past 10 games despite not being at full strength. The likes of D Cale Makar and LW Gabriel Landeskog are injured. C Nathan MacKinnon has 47 points in 41 career games vs. the Wild. He tallied a goal and two assists in Colorado's 6-3 win against the Wild on Oct. 17.
Wild update: Coach Dean Evason said C Sam Steel will return against the Avalanche after Steel was a healthy scratch on Monday. RW Marcus Foligno is out after blocking a shot with his left knee vs. the Panthers. G Marc-Andre Fleury is scheduled to start after backing up the past two games. He's 16-11-3 in his career against Colorado. Evason said the team was discussing one other potential lineup change.
Boston coach Jim Montgomery, who led the Bruins to the greatest regular season in NHL history but never got them past the second round of the playoffs, was fired Tuesday, a day after the below-.500 team lost to last-place Columbus to extend its losing streak to three games.