Eurolanche

Avs Close Homestand Against Wild

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at Pepsi Center, closing out a season-long, six-game homestand. The contest will mark the midway point of the season for Colorado, which enters its league-mandated bye week on Sunday.

The Avalanche is 43-39-13 all-time against the Wild and 23-30-4 at home. Entering Saturday's contest, the Avs sit just two points behind the Wild in the Central Division, and a win could put the Avalanche in a playoff spot as the club also sits just two points out of a wild-card position.

Saturday night will also be a memorable and historic night at Pepsi Center, as former captain Milan Hejduk's No. 23 jersey will be retired and raised to the rafters in a pregame ceremony at 5:45 p.m.

Last Time Out

Backed by a 34-save, shutout performance by Jonathan Bernier and a two-point night by Mikko Rantanen (goal and assist), the Avalanche topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 on Thursday at Pepsi Center.

Matt Nieto notched his seventh goal of the season to put the game out of reach for the Blue Jackets late in the third period. Colorado finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while holding Columbus scoreless on three man-advantage opportunities.

Minnesota poured six goals onto the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night, taking a 6-0 lead and ultimately winning 6-2. Nino Niederreiter had a hat trick, and Mikko Koivu added a goal and two helpers while Mikael Granlund notched a career-high three assists. Devan Dubnyk finished with 29 saves to earn his 15th win of the season.

Last Time They Met

Minnesota took a 3-2 shootout win on Nov. 24 at Xcel Energy Center. Colorado led 2-1 after the opening period with goals from J.T. Compher and Blake Comeau, but Nino Niederreiter evened the score at one in the second frame.

Charlie Coyle scored what stood as the deciding goal in the shootout, giving Minnesota a win in the first of four meetings between the division rivals this season.

What to Watch

Big Stretch for Avs

Despite being split up by Colorado's five-day bye week, Saturday's game is the start of a big stretch of games for the Avs, who face each of the three teams ranked above them in the wild card standings in their next three games: Minnesota (Jan. 6), at Dallas (Jan. 13) and Anaheim (Jan. 15).

Win Streak on the Line

Colorado enters Saturday's game with victories in four-straight games, a season long for the Avs and the longest active win streak in the league. If the Avs defeat the Wild, it would be their first five-game win streak since Dec. 12-19, 2015.

Power Up The Avalanche is 10-for-34 (29.4 percent) on the power play in its last nine games, the second-ranked man-advantage unit in the NHL since Dec. 16.

Mikko Rantanen leads the Avs with seven power-play goals this season and in total power-play time on the ice (164:06), while Nathan MacKinnon's 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) with the man advantage is tops on the team.

Historic Night

Former Colorado captain Milan Hejduk's No. 23 will be the sixth sweater number retired in the history of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, joining Joe Sakic (#19), Peter Forsberg (#21), Patrick Roy (#33), Adam Foote (#52) and Ray Bourque (#77).

Hejduk played all 14 of his NHL seasons with the Avalanche and was a member of the 2001 Stanley Cup championship team. He finished his career with 375 goals and 805 points in 1,020 games with Colorado.

Hejduk appeared in his 1,000th NHL game on Feb. 4, 2013 against Dallas, becoming the first player in Colorado Avalanche history to play 1,000 career regular season games in an Avs sweater.

The only other franchise player to reach 1,000 contests was Sakic, who appeared in 508 games with Quebec and 870 with Colorado (1,378 total). The Usti-nad Labem, Czech Republic, native captured the franchise's first-ever Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer in 2002-03.

Hejduk was a Calder Trophy finalist and a member of the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1998-99. He was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team in 2002-03 and competed in three All-Star Games: 2000, 2001 and 2009.

Player to Watch

Colorado: Right wing Mikko Rantanen

Rantanen tallied a goal and an assist on Thursday night, his second-straight multi-point game. He has five points (two goals, three assists) in his last two games and 13 points (five goals and eight assists) in his last 10 outings. He's totaled four points (two goals and two assists) in seven career contests against the Wild.

Minnesota: Right wing Nino Niederreiter

After missing five games with a lower-body injury, Niederreiter returned to the Minnesota lineup Thursday and registered his second career hat trick. He enters Saturday's contest with 98 career goals, the most by a Switzerland-born player in NHL history.

The Details

Puck drop for Saturday's division clash between the Avs and Wild is slated for 7 p.m. MT, but fans are asked to be in their seats by 5:45 p.m. for Hejduk's pregame jersey retirement ceremony. Doors at Pepsi Center will open at 4:30 p.m.

The game and ceremony can be watched live on Altitude TV, and the radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.

--by Danielle Bernstein / ColoradoAvalanche.com--