The Colorado Avalanche square off against a major Central Division rival tomorrow night—and it isn’t the Dallas Stars.

Instead, it’s the Minnesota Wild, the hottest team in the NHL, riding a seven-game winning streak. On Saturday night in front of a packed Grand Casino Arena, Minnesota continued its surge with a convincing 5–2 victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

How It Unfolded

Matt Boldy set the tone early, burying his 21st goal of the season less than four minutes into the game. Just over seven minutes later, he struck again, finishing a play set up by Quinn Hughes and Mats Zuccarello to give Minnesota an early jolt of energy.

Edmonton pushed back in an eventful first period, answering with two goals of its own. But the Wild had the final say before intermission, as Ryan Hartman tipped in a goal with just eight seconds remaining to restore Minnesota’s lead and send the teams to the locker room with the Wild up 3–2.

The second period came and went without a goal, but Minnesota regained control in the third. Vladimir Tarasenko extended the lead to 4–2, and Nico Sturm later sealed the outcome, converting on a setup from Tarasenko to cap the scoring.

Filip Gustavsson was steady in net, stopping 28 of 30 shots to earn his fifth consecutive win. He improved to 12-8-3 on the season as the Wild outshot the Oilers 37–30 in another well-rounded performance.

Now 22-9-5, the Wild are playing their best hockey of the season, but a significant challenge awaits Sunday night. Minnesota will be on the second leg of a back-to-back as it faces the league-leading Colorado Avalanche (25-2-7).

Avalanche Hold Off Jets

Last night at Ball Arena, the Avalanche (25-2-7) earned their 12th consecutive home victory with a 3–2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, extending their winning streak to four games.

Brent Burns scored the game-winning goal, his fifth of the season, making him just the fourth defenseman in NHL history to record at least five goals in a season at age 40 or older.

Martin Nečas and Parker Kelly also scored for Colorado, while Josh Manson added two assists and was named the first star of the game. The Avalanche improved to 14-0-2 at home and extended their point streak to seven games (6-0-1).

Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves to secure the win.

Avalanche-Wild Head-to-Head

The two teams last met on November 28 at the same venue, where the Wild earned a 3–2 shootout victory. Scott Wedgewood made 35 saves for Colorado, while Nathan MacKinnon recorded two points, including a goal. Gabe Landeskog scored a crucial late goal to force overtime.

Kirill Kaprizov scored both regulation goals for Minnesota before the game was decided in the shootout.

The Wild have won three of their last five matchups against the Avalanche—an impressive turnaround after dropping their previous five meetings. Over that span, MacKinnon has three goals and three assists against Minnesota, while Kaprizov has four goals and three assists in his last five games versus Colorado. Prior to the November 28 meeting, Kaprizov had missed three straight games against the Avalanche due to injury.

Start Time

Avalanche vs. Wild coverage begins at 4 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon. It should be a classic. 

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