DENVER (KDVR/AP) — Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz stopped 24 shots in relief of injured Darcy Kuemper and three more in the shootout, and Colorado beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 for its 14th straight home win.
Kuemper was injured Minnesota’s Jordan Greenway ran into him in the crease and knocked him down. The play drew the ire of Kurtis MacDermid, who dropped the gloves with Greenway. Kuemper was down on ice for a few minutes, but remained in the game until he was replaced by Francouz with 10:34 left in the second period.
The Colorado Avalanche faced division-rival Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena on Monday.
The Avalanche had extended the NHL’s longest home winning streak in nearly four years to 13 games with the win against the Coyotes last week.
Before the game, the team was 7-0-1 so far this January and atop the Central Division and tied with the Nashville Predators for the lead in the Western Conference with 51 points.
The Avs beat the Wild 4-1 in their last matchup at home back on Oct. 30. Before the game, the Wild had played one fewer game than the Avalanche and had 46 points.
Colorado was 20-3-2 in its last 25 games, the best 25-game stretch in team franchise history. The previous best 25-game run was 19-3-3 from Feb. 26-April 11, 2021, and 18-2-3-2 from Jan. 20-March 13, 2003.
Going into the game, Nazem Kadri led the team in points (49) with Mikko Rantanen (44) and Nathan MacKinnon (38) right behind him.