MIN vs COL

In the right hand corner of the blackboard inside the Colorado Avalanche visitors dressing room this morning, the words "16 W" were written.

For the Avs, they hope that is changed to "15 W" after tonight's opening game of their playoff series with the Minnesota Wild.

Veteran Avalanche fans well recall the slogan for the team's last successful Stanley Cup run: Mission 16 W. That came in 2001, and sent Ray Bourque off into retirement with his one and only hoist of the silver chalice.

But can the once-mighty Avalanche have realistic hopes of another 16 playoff wins this year?

Inside their room at the Xcel Energy Center, the attitude was that seemingly, yes, they could.

"We feel we're starting to play our best hockey," said Colorado veteran right wing Andrew Brunette, who was a big part of the Wild team that upset the Avs in the 2003 playoffs, scoring the overtime goal in Game 7.

"Hopefully, we can sustain that and bring it into the playoffs. We've played each other extremely tight all year, and that's probably going to continue."

The Wild enter the postseason high from winning their first division championship in team history, but also on a downer from the loss of reliable defenseman Nick Schultz.

After the team picture ceremony Monday, Schultz continued to complain of stomach pains. He was diagnosed with appendicitis shortly after, and is expected to be lost for the series, and probably beyond.

That means seldom-used Finn Petteri Nummelin is in, and puts a crimp in the Wild's plan to shadow Colorado veteran stars Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic.

Wild coach Jacques Lemaire is saying all the right things, about the need for guys to pick up Schultz's slack, but behind the scenes there is real worry about the Wild's defense, which was already reeling from the recent loss of Kurtis Foster to a broken leg.

Still, the Wild may have enough to get by Colorado.

Minnesota was 3-0-1 at home against the Avs in the regular season, and 5-2-1 overall. Minnesota's specials were both in the NHL's top 10, while Colorado's power play was 28th and the penalty-killing was 20th.

"We know they're better than that though," Wild defenseman Brent Burns said. "They've got a lot of firepower on that power play."

Forsberg, who played in nine games down the stretch in his second tour of duty with the Avs and scored 14 points, says he is feeling better physically than at any point in his return. But as fans of Forsberg's teams know only too well, that doesn't mean it couldn't all change in a heartbeat.

Against a physical, fast Wild team, there is concern Forsberg's fragile health could falter.

"I'm just going to have to hope the body holds up," Forsberg said. "But right now, it feels like it's going in the right direction. It's going to be a tough series. They're a good team and they don't give you many chances. It's going to be defensive, low-scoring games and we have to play smart."

Said Colorado veteran Ryan Smyth, who will play left wing on the third line: "This is when you have to be at your best. We can't turn the puck over against that team and expect to win.

"They have the home-ice advantage, so we know we're an underdog. We just have to play smart defensively and bury the chances when we get them."