Eurolanche

Wild host Avs in battle for play-off

Season series: The Minnesota Wild have won two of the three games against the Colorado Avalanche. Zach Parise's hat trick capped a four-goal third period for the Wild in a 5-4 win in the season opener Oct. 8. Minnesota goaltenders Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper combined for a 20-save shutout at Xcel Energy Center in a 3-0 win on Dec. 5. John Mitchell scored an overtime goal for Colorado in a 2-1 victory at Pepsi Center on Dec. 7.

Avalanche team scope: Colorado is expected to have forward Mikkel Boedker and defenseman Eric Gelinas available after they were acquired in separate transactions prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday. General manager Joe Sakic said he expects Boedker, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes for forward Alex Tanguay and two prospects, to skate on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. "It's exciting to get someone of Boedker's caliber," Landeskog said. "It sends a message to everyone in [the dressing room] that they're willing up top to give us the best chance possible to win and go deep in the [Stanley Cup Play-offs]." Sakic said Gelinas is likely to pair with Chris Bigras and could see time on the power play.

Wild team scope: Defenseman Jonas Brodin will return to the lineup after missing 12 games with a broken foot. To make room, the Wild reassigned defenseman Christian Folin to Iowa of the American Hockey League. Forward David Jones was acquired Monday for goalie Niklas Backstrom, the Wild's all-time leader in wins, shutouts and games played. Minnesota will try and climb into a tie with Colorado for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. A win in regulation would move the Wild past the Avalanche via tiebreaker because they have one game in hand. "That's a play-off game," goaltender Devan Dubnyk said Sunday. "That's going to be a lot of fun. It's going to be an opportunity for us to get back in a playoff spot. You don't have to say much more than that. We're going into a game against a team that we've had some pretty good battles against."

-- by Dan Mayers for NHL.com --