The Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild are playing Game 6 of their NHL playoffs series on Monday and the game can end things with Colorado leading 3-2 and the matchup starts at 9:00 pm ET on CNBC and is streaming live from the Xcel Energy Center on the NBC Sports Live Extra website and this could be the next first round series to end in the western conference.
The Wild and Avalanche have played a tough series and it has two of the teams in the NHL without an ‘s' at the end of their team names going at it and Colorado comes in with the momentum and the favorability, as they won the central division over the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues this season. The Avalanche came back against the Wild in Game 5 and tied the game in regulation and then won the game in overtime and Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said that the team has momentum and they will try and capitalize on it.
Colorado has had Semyon Varlamov in net and he has been solid, while rookie Darcy Kuemper has performed well after replacing Ilya Bryzgalov and now players like Paul Stastny and Zach Parise need to step up for their teams. The Avalanche come in after getting the overtime win and that was huge for the team after taking a 2-0 lead in the series and losing it, while the Wild now must rebound from the emotional loss and they have his game at home in Minnesota.
The Avalanche rebounded from last season and they had one of the best seasons of anyone in the league and they ranked in the top 10 in goals per game this season and they will need that on Monday night. The team was ranked fifth in power play percentage and they were 14th in goals against and they have done well against the power play and now Roy has his team close to advancing into the next round along with the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars lost the series in overtime on Sunday, while the NY Rangers won their game against the Flyers and now they head into Game 6.
The Wild ranked in the top 10 in goals against this season and they dealt with a high amount of injuries and now need to win two in a row to get past Colorado. The Rangers have not been good at closing out series in the past few years and that could mean a Game 7 matchup on Wednesday in back to back games and that could very tough for the team that loses.
Check here for the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild coverage from NBC.