Colorado Avalanche Will Beat the Minnesota Wild

No more cutesy plays on the Minnesota Wild’s name or other situations associated with the two teams. The Colorado Avalanche will beat the Minnesota Wild. They will do so because they simply cannot lose their seventh straight game to the Wild, dating back to the playoff series of last season.

The Avalanche cannot be swept by a team that acts as if the Avs are beneath their contempt. We, the Avs Nation, have withstood a lot of disappointment this season. We must believe that the Avalanche will pull through for us in this big game.

It’s a matter of pride, you see.

Storyline

Walking Wounded

Center Nathan MacKinnon is out with a broken foot. Cornerstone defenseman Erik Johnson is at least a week away from returning. Even call-up Joey Hishon missed the Columbus Blue Jackets game because of a neck injury suffered in practice.

The Colorado Avalanche lose seven to eight man games every single time they suit up. Only Columbus has lost more man games to injury.

The Minnesota Wild are only 11th on the list. The Avs would take that in a heartbeat.

Keys to the Game

Our Game, Not Yours

We’re the Focused Ones

After the heated game in Pepsi Center last Saturday, the Minnesota Wild would like to pretend that they’re the focused ones, the ones who are helpless victims to the goon game played by the Colorado Avalanche.

Yet they’re the ones who talked about the “emotion” of the game.

Wild coach Mike Yeo to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune:

"“That’s [McLeod’s charge and fight in the last seconds of the game] garbage is what it is. We’ve seen the league respond to things like this. There’s rules in place to try to prevent things like that and I’m quite certain that they’ll take a good long look at that. You feel it was going that way all game long. They were obviously very emotional all game long. ”"

Alternate captain Zach Parise also remarked on the emotional side of the game:

"“I’d probably be frustrated too if you play a team, haven’t scored on them in 4 games except on a dump-in.”"

Yet all the Avalanche have said is that they’re focused on each game at hand — vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins, which they won, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, which they won.

The Avalanche need to maintain that focus. Never mind what came before — this is what comes now.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Not

Well, it’d be great if Joey Hishon would stop being injured long enough for him to play NHL games. He suffered a concussion awhile back, which delayed his progress. Now, just as he was getting his shot to join the team, he caught a puck in the neck in practice and had to miss his first NHL regular season game.

Hot

Defenseman Tyson Barrie has six points in the last four games. He has more assists than any player on the team. He’s third on the team for scoring. He may even reach 50 points this season — which is a stellar number for a defenseman.

The captain, Gabriel Landeskog, is on fire. As snake-bitten as he was earlier in the season is how hot he is now. He has eight goals and 13 points in the last 11 games. He’s working so hard, he’s getting fined by the NHL for his passion. He’s working so hard and doing so well, that head coach Patrick Roy praises him in almost every interview. Landeskog has become a stellar leader for the Avalanche.

So, I return to my thesis — the Avalanche have to beat the Wild. They really are the better team – it’s just a matter of getting that horrid Minnesota out of their heads.

Next: Criminal Minds Investigate the Minnesota Wild

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