Colorado Avalanche (47-22-6, second in the Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (36-28-10, sixth in the Central Division)
Saint Paul, Minnesota; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche take on the Minnesota Wild in a matchup within the Central Division Thursday.
Minnesota is 36-28-10 overall with an 8-11-3 record against the Central Division. The Wild serve 12.1 penalty minutes per game to rank third in NHL play.
Colorado is 47-22-6 overall and 14-6-2 against the Central Division. The Avalanche have gone 44-7-3 when scoring three or more goals.
The matchup Thursday is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Avalanche won 2-1 in overtime in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kirill Kaprizov has 37 goals and 46 assists for the Wild. Matthew Boldy has three goals and eight assists over the past 10 games.
Mikko Rantanen has scored 39 goals with 61 assists for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon has seven goals and nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 6-1-3, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.2 assists, four penalties and 14.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game.
Avalanche: 7-2-1, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.8 assists, 2.7 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Wild: Jared Spurgeon: out for season (hip/back), Sam Hentges: out (undisclosed), Marcus Foligno: out for season (undisclosed).
Avalanche: Joel Kiviranta: day to day (illness), Gabriel Landeskog: out for season (knee), Pavel Francouz: out for season (groin), Logan O'Connor: out for season (hip), Valeri Nichushkin: day to day (lower body).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
