The Colorado Avalanche (25-16-1) travel to face off against the Minnesota Wild (26-11-4) on Thursday, January 9th. This game will be played at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and televised on ESPN+. The Wild are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Avalanche are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Predators. Puck drop is set for 8:00 ET.

Avalanche vs Wild

The Colorado Avalanche Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

With a 5-2 loss to the Predators, the Avalanche’s record now stands at 25-16-1. Colorado was the underdog on the puck line, and the total for the game was set at 6.5 goals. The combined 7 goals pushed the total over.

Colorado took the lead early in the second period, but Nashville responded with five unanswered goals. The Avalanche’s defense struggled, allowing two empty-net goals in the final two minutes.

The Minnesota Wild Are Coming Off A Win

With a 2-1 overtime win against the Maple Leafs, the Wild improved to 26-11-4 this season. Minnesota entered the game as the puck line favorites, and the total was set at 6 goals, but the combined score of 3 fell well short of that number.

Ryan Hartman opened the scoring for the Wild at 9:41 in the first period, but the Maple Leafs tied it up with just 52 seconds left in the period. Matt Boldy secured the win for Minnesota with a goal at 2:14 in overtime.

Colorado Offense Breakdown

In their 5-2 loss to Nashville, Colorado’s offense fired 30 shots on goal but only found the net twice. Cale Makar opened the scoring with his 5th goal of the season, a power-play effort in the second period. Nathan MacKinnon added his 6th goal, which came with just 2:17 left in the game.

MacKinnon also picked up his 14th assist on Makar’s goal, while Makar earned his 16th assist on MacKinnon’s late tally. The Avalanche struggled with giveaways, recording 23 in the game.

Wild Offense Breakdown

Ryan Hartman netted his third goal of the season, getting the Wild on the board at the 9:41 mark in the first period. Matt Boldy followed with his sixth goal, scoring 2:14 into overtime to secure the win.

Jared Spurgeon picked up two assists, bringing his season total to three. Marco Rossi added his seventh assist on Boldy’s overtime goal. The Wild fired 33 shots on goal but were held scoreless in the second and third periods.

Colorado Team Defense

Defensively, the Avalanche allowed the tying goal at 11:29 in the 2nd period, followed by three more from Nashville, two of which were empty-netters. Justus Annunen made 21 saves with an 87.5% save percentage. The Avalanche’s defense recorded 11 takeaways and 26 hits.

Minnesota Team Defense

Defensively, the Wild gave up a late first-period power-play goal to the Maple Leafs but kept Toronto off the board for the rest of the game. Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves with a 96.4% save percentage, and the Wild’s defense added 7 takeaways and 22 hits.

Avalanche vs Wild Trends

• The Avalanche are 2-1 puck line in their three last road games and 2-1 straight-up.
• When looking at their past three matchups at home, Minnesota has an puck line record of 2-1 while averaging 4 per game. The team went 2-1 overall in these games.
• As the betting underdog, the Wild have an puck line record of 3-0 in their last three games. In these matchups their, straight up record was 3-0.
• Over the team’s last five games as the favorite, the Avalanche struggled vs the puck line going just 2-3. However, they still had a straight up mark of 3-2.

Avalanche vs Wild Prediction

When it comes to a moneyline wager, I’m going with the Wild to defeat the Avalanche while playing at home. Given the current moneyline odds at +111, I’m placing a wager on the Wild to win outright.

If you’re looking to get a bet down on this matchup, we foresee the Wild winning the underdog. However, if you’re not as confident in the Wild straight-up, we’d still recommend placing a bet on them to cover the puck line.

With an over/under line sitting at 6 goals, we like this game to surpass that mark and recommend getting a bet down on the over.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.