Watch Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild Live Online
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Watch Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild Live Online
This is the first of six meetings between these clubs. Last season, Minnesota won four of six contests -- twice at home and twice on the road. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (4 goals, 2 assists) and Mikko Koivu (1 goal, 5 assists) tied for the series scoring lead with 6 points apiece. Owen Nolan added 4 goals in five games, and goalie Niklas Backstrom went 4-1-1 with a 2.06 goals-against average. Since-traded Ryan Smyth paced the Avalanche with 3 goals and 4 points, and Paul Stastny added 2 goals and 2 assists in four games. Goalie Peter Budaj went 2-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA.
This is the final game of Colorado's seven-game road trip. They've gone 4-1-1 since hitting the road on Oct. 8 in Nashville. On Monday, goaltender Craig Anderson was named the NHL's Second Star for the week ending Oct. 18 -- the second time he's earned the honor this month. From Oct. 12-18, Anderson went 4-0-0 with a 2.20 goals-against average and .928 save percentage as Colorado climbed into first place in the Northwest Division.
Minnesota is playing its first home game since Oct. 6 and only its second of the season. It went 0-5-0 on a five-game road trip between games at XcelEnergyCenter, and three of those losses were by two or more goals. This game will probably see the Minnesota debut of newly-acquired right wing Chuck Kobasew, who was acquired in a trade with Boston on Sunday. He had 1 assist and a minus-2 rating in seven games with the Bruins. The Wild were in desperate need of a veteran help with a crippling rash of injuries. Kobasew told the Pioneer Press "they have a good group of guys, good players, and there's no reason we can't turn it around."
