ST. PAUL — Semyon Varlamov will be in net for the Avalanche Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center, and Colorado will go with the same lineup as in the Thursday win at Madison Square Garden. That means the healthy scratches will be winger Andreas Martinsen and defenseman Zach Redmond.
After the morning skate, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy noted that Varlamov “played really well last game in New York, and he had some good games here as well.”
The Avalanche hadn’t practiced Friday. The morning skate at the arena took place amid jammed conditions in the area because of an ice fishing show at the adjacent RiverCentre convention center.
The Wild (13-7-4) and Avalanche (11-14-1) are playing back-to-back games, with the second on Monday night at the Pepsi Center. They are not riding trains together between games, but it has a barn-and-barn feel.
“What I like is that it’s an opportunity to get closer to them in the standings,” Roy said. “At the same time, they’re good games and I think it’s healthy for hockey. It builds up and I think teams enjoy those games.”
Colorado also is playing five of its next six against Central Division opponents.
“I don’t see it as a make-or-break, but this is an important moment in our season,” said Roy. “There are different times in the season where you really want to win some hockey games and I think this one’s going to be an important one for us.”
Terry Frei: frei@denverpost.com or @TFrei
