Olympic heroes return as Minnesota stars shine in Colorado's arena, a potent reminder of how close Colorado's stars came to Gold.
ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild (34-24-10) is back in action on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche (37-9-9).
Colorado will host the Wild on Thursday night for Minnesota's first game back out of the Olympic break and Colorado's first home game back.
They’ll also host a reminder of how thin the line was between gold and silver.
Minnesota arrives in Denver with several players set to be recognized for their roles in the Olympic Championship. Colorado's Brock Nelson will headline the group.
But Minnesota's Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber and Matt Boldy will also likely get recognized. Wild head coach John Hynes was an assistant for USA as well.
For Colorado, the night carries its own context.
Cale Makar scored the tying goal for Canada in the second period with an assist from Devon Toews after Boldy scored from Hughes.
Nathan MacKinnon had a prime opportunity in the third period that could have shifted the outcome.
Instead, the game stayed level and overtime belonged to Jack Hughes.
The Avalanche are accustomed to their stars driving the narrative. On Thursday, the spotlight will briefly tilt the other direction with Avs' stars looking on.
Minnesota’s players will be recognized in Colorado’s building which will be a subtle reminder of how narrow the margin was, and how decisive the final touch proved to be.
It will be an interesting night to say the least. Hynes confirmed on Wednesday that the three USA players will play in Colorado.
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