The Colorado Avalanche finish their first back-to-back series of the new year 1-1-0. After a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, they came ready to play against the Minnesota Wild, who currently sit at 4th in the league and 2nd in the western conference.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Logan O'Connor each had a goal and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-1 win at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

The Colorado Avalanche (25-15-1, 51 points) face the NHL’s last-place team, the Chicago Blackhawks (13-25-2, 28 points), at the United Center on Wednesday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 5:37 p.

But Colorado’s NHL team has long had a reputation for being a quiet bunch in the locker room, even when this group reached the top of the mountain in 2022. The 2024-25 edition started the season slow, bogged down by injuries and poor goaltending. It weighed on everyone. A generally quiet room seemed even more so at times.

Jakob Chychrun, Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored, Logan Thompson made 18 saves and the NHL-leading Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

The run of important games continues for the Colorado Avalanche, who welcome the Dallas Stars to Ball Arena on Saturday afternoon for a matinee affair. It comes in a run where six of eight games are against Central Division opponents,