The team that's given the Wild the most trouble this season is almost in the rearview mirror.
After taking on the Avalanche an eighth time Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild gets to concentrate on the rest of the West Division and revisit the opponents it's pried the bulk of its points from this season.
But before moving on, the Wild can get the last word against Colorado to prove this matchup isn't as one-sided as the results suggest — a message that could resonate if these teams reunite in the playoffs.
"[Wednesday] is definitely a chance to show we can play against them," Marcus Johansson said. "We haven't done that lately. [Monday] wasn't good enough. I think we kind of fell into their game too much. We need to go out and play our game for 60 minutes.
"I'm certain we're going to do that."
Of the 12 games the Wild has dropped in regulation, five have been losses to the Avalanche.
Most recently was the too-little, too-late comeback that ended 5-4 Monday night to snap the Wild's franchise-record 11-game win streak at home. Before that were back-to-back blowouts in Colorado, a low point of the Wild's season.
Still, the Avalanche hasn't been invincible.