St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - Dany Heatley tallied a pair of power play
goals and Zach Parise added two assists in his Wild debut, as the new-look
Minnesota Wild earned a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in the season
opener for both teams on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter were both part of Minnesota's offseason
overhaul, as the Wild signed the pair to matching 13-year, $98 million
contracts on July 4.
Mikael Granlund and Pierre-Marc Bouchard notched a goal apiece, while Mikko
Koivu finished with two assists for the Wild, who missed the playoffs for a
fourth straight year last season.
Niklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots in the victory.
John Mitchell and Cody McLeod each scored for the Avalanche, who missed the
postseason for the fourth time in six seasons last year. Semyon Varlamov
allowed all four goals on 35 shots.
The Sports Network