Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild Prediction, Preview and Odds - 01/09/2025

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Thursday, January 9, 2025

Venue:  Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, MN

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -130, Wild +110; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -130, Wild +110; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Avalanche -130, Wild +110; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Colorado Avalanche:  25-15-1 (4th place, Central Division)

Minnesota Wild:  26-11-4 (2nd place, Central Division)

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Colorado Avalanche:  8-1-1 last 10

Minnesota Wild:  6-4-0 last 10

The Avalanche are entering this game with 51 points, a 25-15-1 record overall, and they are 13-7-0 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Florida Panthers in their last game, winning that one at home 3-1, but this is also the 2nd game of a back-to-back for them with their game against the Chicago Blackhawks still to be played on Wednesday night. In their game against the Panthers, Devon Toews led the team in goals scored with 2 while Mikko Rantanen scored 1 goal for them in that one. Devon Toews, Ross Colton, Nathan MacKinnon, Casey Mittelstadt, and Juuso Parssinen each led the team in assists with 1 while Cale Makar led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Mackenzie Blackwood was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 27 shots with 26 saves and a .963 save percentage. Their offense has scored 140 goals this season averaging 3.4 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 131 goals against them allowing 3.2 goals per game.

The Wild are entering this game with 56 points, a 26-11-4 record overall, and they are 11-8-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the St Louis Blues in their last game, winning that one at home 6-4. Marcus Johansson, Jake Middleton, Zach Bogosian, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jon Merrill each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello each led the team in assists with 2 while Matt Boldy led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Filip Gustavsson was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 4 goals on 18 shots with 14 saves and a .778 sv percentage before getting replaced by Marc-André Fleury who stopped all 15 shots he faced. Their offense has scored 127 goals this season averaging 3.1 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 111 goals against them allowing 2.7 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Avalanche listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Avalanche have looked good in their games this season with their 25-15-1 record overall which has them in 4th place of their division in the West. They have also been a good road team this year with their 13-7-0 road record and even though they got off to a rough start this season, they have been rolling in their games lately. They are coming off a win over the Panthers in their last one and they are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games too. Meanwhile, the Wild have looked really good in their games this season with their 26-11-4 record overall which has them in 2nd place of their division in the West with one of the best records in the NHL. They haven't looked great on home ice though, going 11-8-1 in their home games this season. They are coming off a 6-4 win over the Blues in their last one, but they needed a comeback to win that game and their goaltending has not been good lately. The Avalanche had their struggles to start the season, but now they have been rolling lately and they will be looking to climb up the standings in the West with a win here since the Wild are ahead of them in their division. The Avalanche have the firepower on offense, but their defense has also looked a lot better lately too. The best way to place a bet here is on the Avalanche to win this game. 

Avalanche Wild Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Thursday, January 9, 2025 (8:00 pm ET start time) is Avalanche 4 Wild 3.

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Colorado Avalanche: 125-79 (+4.8 units) on the moneyline against mistake free teams - opponents average 4 power plays/game or less. 111-65 (+5.8 units) on the moneyline against poor power play killing teams - opp score on over 17.5% of chances. 87-40 (+14.7 units) on the moneyline against poor defensive teams - 29 shots on goal or more, converting 17% pp or more. 24-17 OVER against good starting goalies - saving 91.5% of shots against or more. 

Minnesota Wild: 44-59 (-11.9 units) on the moneyline when playing against a team with a winning record. 62-68 (-5.6 units) on the moneyline against explosive offensive teams - scoring 3+ goals/game. 60-70 (-10.4 units) on the moneyline against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game. 7-2 OVER after scoring 6 goals or more in their previous game.

Colorado Avalanche:  S. Wedgewood (G) Out - Lower Body. V. Nichushkin (RW) Out - Lower Body. O. Kylington (D) Out - Upper-body. I. Ivan (C) Out - Upper Body. M. Wood (LW) Out - Upper-body. G. Landeskog (LW) Out - Knee. T. Poolman (D) Out For Season - Head.

Minnesota Wild:  B. Faber (D) Day To Day - Upper Body. J. Spurgeon (D) Out - Lower-body. K. Kaprizov (LW) Out - Lower Body. J. Lauko (C) Out - Lower-body. T. Grosenick (G) Out For Season - Knee.

“It’s been a long year. Kind of play a couple games and get reinjured. The same kind of thing happened, and kind of redo the whole process of all the rehab and treatment. It’s very similar, very close to the same one I had to start the year in the first game.” - Jonathan Drouin on dealing with injuries this season. 

“Even if we’re up or even or down, I think we just keep playing. To do that, I think that’s really good. We've just got to keep doing it the rest of the season.” - Jonas Brodin on the team this season.

LW Artturi Lehkonen

C Nathan MacKinnon

RW Mikko Rantanen

LD Devon Toews

RD Cale Makar

G Trent Miner

LW Matt Boldy

C Marco Rossi

RW Mats Zuccarello

LD Jonas Brodin

RD Brock Faber

G Filip Gustavsson

Points: N. MacKinnon (66)

Goals: M. Rantanen (24)

Assists: N. MacKinnon (52)

GAA: T. Miner (1.71)

Points: K. Kaprizov (50)

Goals: K. Kaprizov (23)

Assists: K. Kaprizov (27)

GAA: F. Gustavsson (2.31)

Coaches:

Colorado Avalanche: Jared Bednar (9th season)

Minnesota Wild: John Hynes (2nd season)