One thing is certain for Friday’s game between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild.
Somebody’s winning streak will have to end.
Colorado has won 10 games in a row as it prepares to face off against the Wild — winners of six straight — in a post-Thanksgiving matinee in Saint Paul, Minn.
Both teams have shined because of stellar goaltending and timely scoring.
The Avalanche are coming off a 6-0 win against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. It was the third consecutive shutout for Colorado, which matched a franchise record from 2001.
Mackenzie Blackwood, who has a pair of shutouts in his past two starts, credited his teammates. Colorado has sprinted to a 17-1-5 record, the best in the league, to start the season.
“(On Wednesday), we were great,” Blackwood said. “They did a heck of a job limiting chances and burying theirs. These guys care so much, and they take pride in it, no matter what the score is. So that makes me so freaking happy that those guys are like that. It makes me want to go to war for them.
“This team, for as offensive as we are, they take pride in the D-zone. So guys care, and it matters to them. They don’t like getting scored on almost more than they like to score goals.”
The theme is also true for the Wild, who struggled to start the season but have posted a 10-1-1 record in their past 12 contests. Minnesota is coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, which followed back-to-back shutout victories over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets.
Wild coach John Hynes praised his team for finding a way to win an imperfect game. They trailed 2-0 in the second period and 3-2 in the third before rallying.
“Every night you might not be at your best,” Hynes said. “But the mindset of the group (on Wednesday) is something that I think we can draw on moving forward, that you’ve got to keep fighting and battling regardless of what happens, and you’ve got to try to make a game of it.
“We did.”
The Wild will face a high-octane Avalanche squad led by Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league with 18 goals in 23 games. He has 21 assists to give him a league-best 39 points.
Martin Necas and Cale Makar have posted 30 points apiece as Colorado boasts three of the league’s top 10 scorers.
Minnesota’s top scorers are Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, who are tied for the team lead with 28 points each. Both players have 14 goals and 14 assists.
Colorado likely will turn back to Scott Wedgewood in net. He is 13-1-2 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 17 starts this season, and he is 1-1-2 with a 2.94 GAA and a .900 save percentage in five career games against the Wild.
The Wild have split starting duties lately between Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. Gustavsson is 7-7-2 with a 2.80 GAA and a .903 save percentage in 16 starts, and Wallstedt is 6-0-2 with a 1.94 GAA and a .935 save percentage in eight starts.
Gustavsson is 2-7-1 with a 3.81 GAA and an .887 save percentage in 10 career games against Colorado. Wallstedt has yet to face the Avalanche.
Gustavsson says he liked sharing duties with Wallstedt.
“Why not?” he said. “It’s so many games now. We play almost every other day, and it’s hard on the body to play that much. So it’s good for the goalies to get their rest, too.”
–Field Level Media
