Road trips are commonplace during the holiday season.
Today, the Colorado Avalanche make their final road trip before the holiday break in a rematch against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena in St Paul. While the Avalanche have had several noteworthy matchups against Minnesota in the past, this one will be the first meeting with defenseman Quinn Hughes as a member of the Wild.
Colorado Avalanche (25-2-7)
The Opponent: Minnesota Wild (22-9-5)
Time: 4:00 P.M. MST/6:00 P.M. EST
Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Broadcast Area), FDSNNO,
FDSNWIX, ESPN+, NHL Center Ice (Outside Avalanche Broadcast Area – US), SN+, NHL Centre Ice (Canadian Broadcast Areas)
Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
This game marks the second (and final) visit to the Twin Cities for the Avalanche this season. In the previous matchup on November 28, Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring early in the first period. Minnesota countered with two second period goals by Kirill Kaprizov until Gabe Landeskog tied the game nearly halfway through the third period. Neither team scored in the overtime session, but Minnesota ultimately came out on top courtesy of a shootout-deciding goal from Matt Boldy for the 3-2 victory. Both goalies were put to the test: Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt stopped 39 of 41 shots, while Scott Wedgewood turned aside 37 of 39 shots.
That shootout loss didn’t derail the Avalanche in the slightest. Colorado has gone 8-1-1 since then, and remain firmly established as the undisputed leader across the Central Division, Western Conference, and League standings with 57 points. The Avs are coming off a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Ball Arena on Friday night. Brent Burns and Martin Nečas both recorded first period tallies, and Parker Kelly’s seventh goal of the season, a deflection of a Josh Manson shot, proved to be the difference maker in the third period. Wedgewood stopped 20 of 22 shots, and the victory marked Colorado’s twelfth consecutive victory on home ice.
While Nathan MacKinnon shares the League lead in points with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (59) coming into today’s game, he remains the NHL’s goal-scoring leader (28). Mackenzie Blackwood will likely start between the pipes for Colorado. Since recording his first loss of the regular season against the New York Islanders on December 04 (a 6-3 decision), Blackwood has won his last four starts, allowing two goals in three of those four starts (he allowed three goals in the Avs’ previous road victory, a 5-3 decision against the Seattle Kraken this past Tuesday).
The Avalanche are seeking their first victory in St. Paul since January 9th, a 6-1 decision. A win today would even the four game season series against Minnesota at one game apiece, and put Colorado on the verge of breaking the sixty point barrier with one game remaining before the holiday break.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Victor Olofsson – Ross Colton – Gavin Brindley
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Joel Kiviranta
Defense:
Cale Makar – Devon Toews
Josh Manson – Brent Burns
Sam Girard – Sam Malinski
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Minnesota Wild
Despite his team’s strong start to the season, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin knew that his defensive corps was missing high-end, game-breaking talent to compete with the likes of Colorado’s Cale Makar and Dallas’ Miro Heiskanen. Top-end talent like that comes at a premium, and few organizations are willing to make bold moves at all, let alone so early in the regular season.
Guerin had already sent waves throughout the NHL when he signed his superstar right wing Kaprizov to an eye-popping, eight-year, $136 million dollar contract extension on September 30, a deal that now stands as the richest contract throughout the League. On December 12, he made another landmark transaction, acquiring former Norris Trophy winning defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for former University of Denver defensive standout Zeev Buium, center Marco Rossi, left wing Liam Öhgren, and Minnesota’s first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Hughes scored his first goal in Minnesota green in his debut game against Boston on December 14. In his first week of action with Minnesota, Hughes added a pair of assists and has averaged 28:20 in ice time.
While it wouldn’t exactly be fair to examine a head-to-head matchup between Hughes and Makar, let’s do it anyway. Hughes has struggled against Colorado in his career, recording only six assists in fifteen career games against Colorado. Makar has recorded three goals and fifteen assists in fourteen games against Vancouver. In his twenty-six career games against Minnesota, Makar has five goals and eighteen assists for twenty-three points.
Minnesota has won their previous seven games coming into today’s game against Colorado, which serves as as the second half of a back-to-back weekend on home ice. They hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon, walking away with a 5-2 decision. Matt Boldy opened the scoring with two goals in the first period, Vladimir Tarasenko recorded a goal and an assist, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 of 30 shots in the contest. With Wallstedt already earning the first victory against Colorado this season, it’s likely the man dubbed, “The Wall of St. Paul” and his 1.96 GAA returns to the crease today.
Both Boldy and Kaprizov share the team lead in goals (22). Boldy leads the team in points (43), and Kaprizov is a close second (41). During Minnesota’s win streak, they have scored fewer than five goals only twice: a 4-1 win against Seattle on December 08, and a 3-2 win against Ottawa on December 13.
Minnesota has not lost on home ice since a 3-2 shootout decision against the Buffalo Sabres on November 29, and has not lost in regulation since a 4-1 defeat against Pittsburgh on October 30.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Yakov Trenin – Danila Yurov – Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Foligno – Nico Sturm – Vincent Hinostroza
Defense:
Quinn Hughes – Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin – Jared Spurgeon
Jacob Middleton – David Jiříček
Between the Pipes:
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
