The Wild will go back to goalie Devan Dubnyk Sunday when it hosts the Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center vying for a fourth straight win.
Dubnyk got the start Friday in Dallas, making 31 saves in the 3-2 victory over the Stars.
Defenseman Carson Soucy will also return after missing the last two games with illness. His addition bumps Brad Hunt from the blue line. Victor Rask remains the lone forward scratch.
"They're got great speed, and they've got some special guys on the back end," coach Bruce Boudreau said of Colorado. "They're just a really good team, which is why they're one of the picks to come out of the West in the end. We have to play our best, our absolute best, to beat these guys."
Against the Stars, Boudreau scrambled his lines in-game – switching wingers Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarello. And it's likely the Wild keeps that change for the start of this game.
Boudreau also decided to go with Pateryn over Hunt to have a physical presence on the Wild's blue line.
"It's not a coin toss or anything," he said. "This is a heavy team, and Soucy's a big, strong guy and sometimes you get going against the MacKinnons of the world and the Landeskogs you need those heavier guys to be able to move some of them out."
After the win in Dallas, the Wild moved two points out of a playoff spot. While the team was idle Saturday, the gap grew to three.
