Faceoff Factor

Wild Vs Avalanche Game 6 Preview

Mike Adams | National Hockey League

Apr 19, 10:24 AM | Hype this story!

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Wild (3) vs. Avalanche (6) Game 6
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Series Score: Wild 2 – Avalanche 3
Game Time: 10:00 EDT
Location: EPpsi Center (Colorado)
Television: Versus

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Preview
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It was back to normal in Game 5, with Colorado notching the 3-2 win. Only Game 4 in this series was not decided by that score. It just shows how evenly matched these two teams are. Tonight, for the first time in the series, a team has a chance to close it out. That team is the Avalanche.

The main reason the Avs are up in this series is Jose Theodore. He has been absolutely brilliant most of the time. He stole Game 5 in Minnesota, a game when the Wild actually carried the play for long periods. Theodore has a 2.04 goals against average and a .933 save percentage thus far. That’s quite the turnaround for a guy who was nearly cast on the scrap heap last offseason. The Avs continue to get balanced scoring, with a quartet of skaters notching five points in the series. Paul Stastny finally dented the scoreboard in the last game, and the Avs have to hope that will get him untracked in Game 6.

For Minnesota, the story continues to be Marian Gaborik. He is pointless in this series. For the Wild to only be down a game with zero contribution from their leading scorer is almost miraculous. But how long can they hang on? They have not gotten the stellar goaltending they expect from Niklas Backstrom. He is going to have to be better if they are to come back in this series. The only guys that have really stood out thus far for the Wild are Brian Rolston (2 G, 4 A) and Mikko Koivu (4 G, 1 A). Unfortunately for them, it would appear as though, if they don’t get a contribution from Gaborik in Game 6, their season might well be over.

For a complete list of team leaders and statistics, click here.

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Injuries
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Minnesota: Foster, DTD (leg); Kelly, DTD (ankle); Schultz, DTD (appendix); Parrish (head); Radivojevic, DTD (leg)
Colorado: Clark, IR (shoulder); Parker, DTD (ankle); Svatos, DTD (knee)