Wild-Avalanche game preview: TV-radio information, injury report and stats
The Wild’s record against Central Division teams is a major reason why they likely won’t make the playoffs.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 9, 2024 at 4:00AM
TV; radio: ESPN+, Hulu; 100.3 FM
Stats and analytics: Tap here.
Sarah McLellan’s analysis:
Opening bell: There’s no repairing the Wild’s rough record against the Central Division with only five games left in the regular season, but they have one last chance to avoid getting swept by the top three teams. The Wild (37-31-9) are a combined 0-7 against Dallas and Winnipeg and 0-2-1 against Colorado. But since the Avalanche dumped the Wild 5-2 last Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, they’ve sputtered. Colorado (48-24-6) fell 6-2 to Edmonton last Friday and was stymied 7-4 by Dallas on Sunday night.
Watch him: Wild LW Kirill Kaprizov needs six more goals to tie his career high of 47 and based on his current tear, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he hits that mark. Kaprizov is coming off back-to-back two-goal games and since the calendar flipped to March, the longest he’s gone without scoring a goal is three games. His 28 goals since Jan. 19 are tops in the NHL.
Injuries: Wild LW Marcus Foligno (core) and D Jared Spurgeon (hip/back). Avalanche G Pavel Francouz (groin), LW Gabriel Landeskog (knee), RW Logan O’Connor (hip), RW Mikko Rantanen (concussion protocol) and LW Miles Wood (lower body).
Forecast: The Wild’s last game against the Avalanche was their most lopsided finish in this head-to-head series this season, but they tested Colorado. They had a season-high 46 shots and if they had sharper execution, the Avalanche could be in a longer losing skid. Still, the Wild should expect an urgent Colorado team. Although the Avalanche are playoff-bound, where they finish in the Central isn’t set in stone and if they want to hold onto home-ice advantage, they need to start picking up points. Key for the Wild is getting better execution in the offensive zone and not giving up momentum-changing goals like the one they surrendered early in the third period last Thursday off a 2-on-1 counterattack that extended Colorado’s lead.
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The Wild are off to one of the best starts in franchise history, and Kirill Kaprizov is tied for the NHL scoring lead.
