COLORADO AT MINNESOTA, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBCSN, 950 AM
Spotlight on Jared Spurgeon
The Wild defenseman is just 5-foot-9 and 168 pounds but he logs more than 24 minutes per game and leads the team with 126 blocked shots. Spurgeon, 28, is the franchise leader for most career goals (56) and tied for first in game-winning goals (13) with Brent Burns, who now plays for San Jose. Spurgeon has seven points (two goals) in his last eight games and is point shy of his career-high in points (38), established last season.
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: Center Nathan MacKinnon has eight points (three goals) in three games against Minnesota this season and linemate has seven points (two goals). The Avs have routed the Wild 7-2 and 7-1 in the last two meetings, both in Denver. … Injured defensemen (shoulder) and (upper body) did not travel with the team to Minnesota. Johnson, who has missed the last 10 games, skated briefly during practice in a red non-contact sweater before leaving the ice. Barberio, out for the last 21 games with what is believed to be a concussion, did not practice. … Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was fined a maximum $5,000 by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Saturday night for slashing Colorado forward in the third period of the Avs’ 5-2 victory Saturday afternoon. Andrighetto responded to the stick-breaking slash by knocking Ekman-Larsson to the ice. “I just tried to lift his stick two times before I got the puck without slashing him,” Andrighetto said of the altercation. “Maybe I hit him on the hand when I tried to lift his stick or something. That might have set him off.” … The Avalanche on Sunday recalled goalie Spencer Martin to back up and sent rookie forward to San Antonio for a conditioning assignment. Kamenev hasn’t played since breaking a forearm in his Avs debut Nov. 16 against Washington.
Wild: Minnesota is 1-2 against the Avs and wase blown out twice in Denver after winning the first game 3-2 in a shootout in on Black Friday in November. … They are tied for first with 54 points at home, going 24-5-6 at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota has points in 26 of its last 28 home games since Nov. 14, going 21-2-5. … In nine games since becoming a line Feb. 23, Eric Staal (14 points), Mikael Granlund (12) and Jason Zucker (11) have totaled 37 points (17 goals). … Goalie Devan Dubnyk is at 199 NHL career wins, including 129 victories with the Wild. He has 16 career wins against Colorado, more than any other team he’s faced.
