wild gameday
5 P.M. VS. COLORADO • XCEL Center • FSN, 100.3-FM
Preview: The Wild has dropped three of five and saw its six-game home winning streak end with Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Phoenix. This is the first of a home-and-home series with former Northwest Division and now Central Division rival Colorado. The Avs are 5-5 since a 12-1 start and coming off a 4-1 home loss to St. Louis. The Wild was 4-0-1 against Colorado last season.
Players to watch: G Josh Harding, who hasn't started the past three games because of leg spasms, may start. He has given up six goals in his past two games. LW Dany Heatley has three goals and seven points in his past five games. Heatley has 25 points in 24 games against Colorado. C Mikko Koivu has 37 points in 46 games against Colorado. Avs C Matt Duchene leads Colorado with 12 goals and 20 points. Captain Gabriel Landeskog has 16 points.
Numbers: The Avs average 3.04 goals per game, which ranks fifth in the NHL, and give up 2.13 goals per game, which ranks sixth. … The Wild is 31-11-5 against Colorado since March 5, 2006.
Injuries: Wild LW Zach Parise (foot) is questionable and C Mikael Granlund (concussion) is out. Avalanche C Paul Stastny (back spasms) is questionable. LW Alex Tanguay (knee) and D Ryan Wilson (back) are out.
MICHAEL RUSSO
