Preview
Associated Press
Wild-Avalanche Preview

GAME: Minnesota Wild (12-14-5-0) at Colorado Avalanche (16-7-5-1).

TIME: Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EST.

Any questions the Colorado Avalanche had about their goaltending entering this season are being answered by David Aebischer.

The Avalanche and their top goalie look to extend a season-high eight-game unbeaten streak when they host the Minnesota Wild.

Following the retirement Patrick Roy -- arguably the greatest goaltender in NHL history -- Colorado entered this season with two relatively inexperienced players in net in Aebischer and Philippe Sauve. On a team loaded with offensive talent and expected to be a leading contender for the Stanley Cup, goaltending figured to be Colorado's only weakness.

Aebischer, who made 60 starts in his first three NHL seasons, has answered the critics with an outstanding first two months. He is among the league leaders with 14 wins, a 2.08 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.

Aebischer had another strong performance Saturday, stopping 32 shots as Colorado skated to a 1-1 tie at Calgary.

In his last six games, Aebischer is 2-0-4 while allowing just seven goals.

"David's been everything we expected him to be and he certainly was a key factor in us getting a couple points on this trip," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said.

Saturday was the second consecutive 1-1 tie for Colorado, 4-0-4 since a 3-2 loss to Nashville on Nov. 24.

Although the Avalanche haven't lost in three weeks, Aebischer wasn't satisfied with his team's performance Saturday.

"Nobody's happy in here," Aebischer said. "It's not so much because of the one point, it's more because of the way we played. We can be much better than this, that's for sure."

Minnesota has put together back-to-back wins for the first time in more than a month following a 5-2 victory at Phoenix on Monday.

Andrew Brunette had a goal and two assists for the Wild, winners of three of four after winning just one of their previous eight games.

Minnesota had played eight straight games decided by one goal or in overtime before Monday. The Wild are one of the league's weakest offensive clubs with 65 goals in 31 games.

"We're not a high-scoring team, but I think if we play as hard as we did tonight we could get our share of goals," coach Jacques Lemaire said. "It's one of the few games we worked from start to end the same way."

Wild right wing Marian Gaborik, Minnesota's best player, has one point in his last nine games.




SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
Avs Alert
coloradoavalanche.com is the official Web site of the Colorado Avalanche. The Colorado Avalanche and coloradoavalanche.com are trademarks of the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc.  NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc. and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.