Avs Win in Minnesota as Drouin, MacKinnon and... Annunen Shine
The tandem combined for 6 points in Colorado's 5-2 win.
If you asked me ahead of Thursday’s game in St. Paul which Avalanche player(s) were likely to find the back of the net, I would have said Zach Parise and Brandon Duhaime.
One is a Minnesota hockey legend who spent the prime of his career playing for his home state Wild after picking them in free agency a dozen years ago. Choosing the Wild wasn’t something star players in the NHL weren’t doing at the time. It’s still not a destination for many free agents, but Parise — along with Ryan Sutter — changed the perception for a little while. Then you had the lovable grinder who spent parts of the last five years in the organization, building up fan support through hard work and gritty play only to be dealt off at the deadline for a mid-round pick.
For Parise, Thursday was likely the last time he would play in an NHL game at the Xcel Energy Center, a venue he called home for nine seasons, amassing 199 goals and 400 points as a member of the Wild. For Duhaime, he scored 19 goals in parts of three NHL campaigns before being shipped to Denver just a dozen games ago. Both were beloved members of the Wild who looked to make an impact in both their final game there and their first game back, respectively.
But things don’t always work out like they do in storybooks. The pair of Duhaime and Parise didn’t score in front of their former fans, but they did manage to help their new team leave The State of Hockey with a pair of points.
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