Early look The full preview opens on Thursday 1 April, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild: game preview

Puck drop4 Apr · 2:00 PM ET
VenueGrand Casino Arena
All-time meetings164 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Seventeen points apart last season

Colorado finished last season 1st in the league on 121 points. Minnesota finished 7th on 104, and the 2025-26 season series went COL 6-2-1.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 165

Across 164 completed games, Colorado lead the head-to-head 85-57-22.

All-time record85-57-22Colorado's record in the series
Meetings played164This is number 165
2025-26 seriesCOL 6-2-1
Last 54-1Colorado
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
13 May 2026MIN 3 – COL 4 OT——COL
11 May 2026COL 5 – MIN 2——COL
9 May 2026COL 1 – MIN 5——MIN
5 May 2026MIN 2 – COL 5——COL
3 May 2026MIN 6 – COL 9——COL
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateColoradoMinnesota
3 May 202655-16-11 · 121 pts1st46-24-12 · 104 pts7th
5 May 202655-16-11 · 121 pts1st46-24-12 · 104 pts7th
9 May 202655-16-11 · 121 pts1st46-24-12 · 104 pts7th
11 May 202655-16-11 · 121 pts1st46-24-12 · 104 pts7th
13 May 202655-16-11 · 121 pts1st46-24-12 · 104 pts7th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 3 May 2026, Colorado were 1st in the league and Minnesota 7th. By 13 May 2026 it was 1st and 7th.


Expected goals

Colorado have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

ColoradoMinnesota
3.16xG for per game3.01
2.55xG against per game2.83
55.4%xG share51.5%
+7.7FinishingGoals minus expected goals−0.0
+0.1GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+3.5

This season: 2 games for Colorado, 3 for Minnesota. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Colorado

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2744.4%
Power play · 2025-2617.1% · 27th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-27100.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2684.6% · 1st
Faceoffs · 2026-2746.8% · 58/124
Drawn · 2026-279 (4.50/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-276 (3.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Minnesota

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2736.4%
Power play · 2025-2625.2% · 3rd
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-27100.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2679.8% · 16th
Faceoffs · 2026-2748.0% · 84/175
Drawn · 2026-2711 (3.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-279 (3.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
88Martin Necas22242.00
97Kirill Kaprizov33031.00
20Blake Coleman31120.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
42Josh Manson21231.50
8Cale Makar21231.50
7Devon Toews20221.00
43Quinn Hughes31341.33
46Jared Spurgeon31231.00
3Olli Maatta30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 2 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 2 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Colorado crease

COL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Mackenzie Blackwood.9122 GP · 2-0-0 · GSAx +0.1

No appearances against Minnesota in the last meetings.

Minnesota crease

MIN · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Jesper Wallstedt.9333 GP · 2-0-1 · GSAx +3.5

No appearances against Colorado in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.3 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

13 May 20267 · MIN 3–4 COL
11 May 20267 · COL 5–2 MIN
9 May 20266 · COL 1–5 MIN
5 May 20267 · MIN 2–5 COL
3 May 202615 · MIN 6–9 COL

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Colorado7.002.503.682.48
Minnesota3.001.673.322.93

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.3Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings8.4Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

7 on the injury lists

Colorado · injuries

Georgii MerkulovUndisclosedIRReturn16 Oct
Logan O'ConnorLower BodyIRReturn7 Oct
Trent MinerUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct
Zachary L'HeureuxLower BodyIRReturn7 Oct

Minnesota · injuries

Brock FaberSkullIRReturn15 Oct
Filip GustavssonHipIRReturn1 Nov
Nick FolignoUpper BodyDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
27 Sep · COL

Placed LD Keaton Middleton, LD Wyatt Aamodt, RW/LW Fabian Lysell, C Vinnie Hinostroza, LW Adam Beckman and LW Tristen Nielsen on waivers.

27 Sep · COL

Placed D Keaton Middleton, D Wyatt Aamodt, LW Fabian Lysell, C Vinnie Hinostroza, LW Adam Beckman and G Mads Sogaard Nielsen on waivers.

25 Sep · COL

Reassigned Ds Domenick Fensore, Saige Weinstein and Christian Wolanin to Colorado (AHL).

24 Sep · MIN

Waived for the purpose of assignment to Iowa (AHL) Ds Matt Kiersted, Carson Lambos, and Roman Schmidt and Fs Caedan Bankier, Dylan Gambrell, Justin Kirkland, Tyler Pitlick, and Mason Shaw. Assigned Ds Ben Dexheimer and Viking Gustafsson Nyberg and Fs Jagger Joshua, Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt, Rasmus Kumpulainen, and Rieger Lorenz to Iowa.

14 Jul 2026 · MIN

Signed G Filip Ruzicka to a three-year, entry-level contract.

13 Jul 2026 · MIN

Signed D Filip Ruzicka to a three-year contract.

Injury report
#43Egor ShilovRound 2 · VictoriavilleC
#74Beckett HamiltonRound 3 · Red DeerC
#126Tobias TvrznikRound 4 · WenatcheeG
#128Axel ElofssonRound 4 · Orebro Jr.D
Full draft
#83Adam AnderssonRound 3 · Leksand Jr.C
#112Kayden LemireRound 4 · Prince GeorgeRW
#137Filip RuzickaRound 5 · BrandonG
Full draft

Updated after every final