Wild at Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche attempt to complete a sweep of their home-and-home series with the Minnesota Wild when the clubs face off at the Pepsi Center on Saturday. Captain Gabriel Landeskog recorded a goal and two assists while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 27 saves in improving to 6-0-0 on the season. The 3-1 victory was the third straight on the road and third in four overall games for the Avalanche.
Dany Heatley scored the lone goal for the Wild, whose losing streak reached three games. Minnesota has netted a total of two tallies during its slide and has scored more than three times just once in its last 10 contests. Colorado is third in the Central Division, two points ahead of the Wild.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN North Plus (Minnesota), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE WILD (15-8-4): Zach Parise was back in the lineup Friday after missing just one game with a foot contusion. The star forward initially was expected to miss two to three weeks after blocking a shot in Monday's loss to St. Louis. Josh Harding's perfect run at home came to an end Friday as he allowed two goals on 20 shots against Colorado and fell to 10-1-0 at Xcel Energy Center.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (18-6-0): Giguere became the first goaltender in franchise history to begin a season by winning each of his first six decisions. "I've been practicing hard and trying to get ready to give (Semyon Varlamov) a break," Giguere said. "I'm going in there with no pressure, just doing my game and trying to give the team a chance." Center Paul Stastny has missed two straight games with back spasms.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota C Erik Haula made his NHL debut Friday and recorded an assist on Heatley's goal.
2. Colorado D Jan Hejda is second in the league with a plus-17 rating.
3. The Wild have allowed the first goal in each of their last six games.