Minnesota @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 22, 2019 ) Minnesota 2, Colorado 3

Colorado's Mikko Rantanen is good enough to be the next Hart Trophy winner and the start to his season is the stuff of legend as the Avalanche prepare to host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Rantanen didn't play in the preseason, signed a six-year, $55.5 million contract last Saturday, arrived in Denver from his native Finland on Sunday, practiced with his team Monday for the first time and scored twice in Colorado's season-opening 5-3 victory over Calgary on Thursday.

"As soon as I watched him practice for two days (after signing his contract), I knew he was going to pick up where he left off," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters. "He came in and practiced and it looked easy for him. He's got a lot of confidence, he's happy with the new contract, and we're happy to have him back. He must have put in some good work in Switzerland for a couple weeks." Rantanen was reunited with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, who each provided an assist Thursday after the trio combined for 106 goals and 261 points last season. Minnesota, which most believe will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs, lost its opener 5-2 at Nashville on Thursday. "That’s good. Let them pick us to be at the bottom,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters. “But we believe in ourselves, and we’re counting on surprising people.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS North, FS Wisconsin (Minnesota), Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE WILD (0-1-0): Mats Zuccarello, who signed a five-year, $30 million contract July 1, was a minus-3 with a shot on goal in 16 minutes, 7 seconds of his club debut. Defenseman Matt Dumba scored against Nashville after missing the final 50 games last season when he ruptured his right pectoralis muscle. Devan Dubnyk is expected to be in goal Saturday after making 27 saves Thursday, including a highlight reel stop on former teammate Mikael Granlund.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (1-0-0): Joonas Donskoi scored twice in his team debut after playing his first four seasons with San Jose while linemate J.T. Compher had a goal. Sam Girard and Cale Makar form arguably the fastest defensive duo in the league and each recorded an assist in their first game as the club's No. 1 unit. Philipp Grubauer began his first season as Colorado's top goaltender by making 27 saves and will likely be back between the pipes Saturday.

OVERTIME

1. Avalanche D Conor Timmins on Thursday made his NHL debut and had a shot on goal in 9:59 of ice time while Makar played his first regular-season game after appearing in 10 playoff contests in April and May.

2. Dumba recorded a team-high 25:24 TOI on Thursday with Minnesota D Ryan Suter playing 24:13.

3. The clubs split four meetings last season with Dubnyk playing in each contest and yielding eight goals.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Wild 2