The first impression the Wild made on the Avalanche wasn’t the team that’s top-five in the NHL and leading Colorado in the Central Division. That’s because that version wasn’t playing. After admirably overcoming injuries the last week-plus to win four in a row,

The Colorado Avalanche finish their first back-to-back series of the new year 1-1-0. After a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, they came ready to play against the Minnesota Wild, who currently sit at 4th in the league and 2nd in the western conference.

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The Minnesota Wild (26-11-4) have seven players on the injury report, including Kirill Kaprizov, in their matchup with the Colorado Avalanche (25-16-1) at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, January 9

The Wild already were missing captain Jared Spurgeon (lower body), who is expected to be out for another week or two after taking a slew foot from Nashville forward Zachary L’Heureux in their game on Dec.

The short-handed Minnesota Wild fought for a while, but their excess of injuries ultimately proved too much to overcome in a 6-1 blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St.

With star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon still sidelined, the Wild will be without defensemen Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin - and potentially goalie Marc-Andre Fleury - Thursday night against Colorado.