The Avalanche may be the biggest surprise this season, going from the first overall pick in the draft to Central Division champs. Drawing the Wild in the first round may continue their good fortune.
Colorado owned this matchup during the regular season. The Avalanche faced the Wild five times this season and won four of those games. The Avs also own a solid 5-2 record in their last seven games in Minnesota and a 7-3 mark in their last 10 home game against the Wild.
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The Avalanche will likely be without their leading scorer Matt Duchene for this series, so it will be up to Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, Paul Stastny and Calder Trophy favorite Nathan MacKinnon to carry the offense.
Surprisingly, one of the big reasons the Wild made the playoffs was goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. After arriving in Minnesota at the trade deadline Bryzgalov won seven of 12 starts. Can he keep it up in the postseason and give a boost to one of the lowest scoring teams to make the playoffs?
The Bodog oddsmakers are showing Colorado some respect with 14/1 odds on the Cup futures, while the Wild look like at afterthought as 40/1 longshots.