"Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start Thursday night in a key Northwest Division showdown against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center.

Colorado coach Joe Sacco will give Giguere his fifth start in the team's last six games, after 23-year-old Semyon Varlamov took the loss in Tuesday's 3-2 setback at Edmonton, the first game back from the All-Star break. The Avs practiced this afternoon after a long night of travel, returning to Denver around 2:30 a.m."