Avalanche at Wild
The surging Minnesota Wild seek their sixth consecutive victory as they attempt to complete a sweep of the season series when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Minnesota has climbed past Winnipeg for the first wild card in the Western Conference and within four points of Chicago for third place in the Central Division by going 16-2-1 over its last 19 contests. The Wild have completely dominated the Avalanche this campaign, winning the first four meetings by a combined 12-1 score.
Colorado looks to extend its winning streak to three games after claiming a 3-1 decision over Pittsburgh on Wednesday and blanking Columbus 4-0 three nights later. Alex Tanguay scored a goal and set up another while defenseman Tyson Barrie collected three assists in support of Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 44 shots en route to his fifth shutout of the campaign. The Avalanche are hanging by a thread in the playoff picture as they trail Winnipeg by nine points for the second wild card in the West with 17 games remaining.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (29-25-11): Colorado began life without Nathan MacKinnon on Saturday, a day after announcing the reigning Calder Trophy winner would miss six-to-eight weeks with a fractured foot. The 19-year-old registered 14 goals and 24 assists in 64 games this season. Freddie Hamilton made his debut for Colorado on Saturday after being acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline, registering two hits and blocking one shot while going 7-6 on faceoffs in 9:18 of ice time.
ABOUT THE WILD (36-22-7): Devan Dubnyk continues to make a case for the Hart Trophy as he leads Minnesota to a postseason berth. The 28-year-old has been a savior since being acquired from Arizona, going 18-3-1 with five shutouts, a 1.60 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage in 23 games. Dubnyk is expected to make his 24th consecutive start Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Dubnyk has allowed fewer than three goals in each of his last nine starts (8-1-0).
2. With 43, Barrie became the second Colorado defenseman to eclipse the 40-point plateau in the last eight seasons, joining John-Michael Liles (46 in 2010-11).
3. Minnesota RW Jason Pominville has registered back-to-back two-point performances after recording only one point in his previous nine contests.