Game Preview #67: Wild vs Ducks

ST. PAUL - Tonight, young center Marat Khusnutdinov makes his much anticipated NHL debut. 

The Minnesota Wild (32-27-7) are six points out of a playoff spot but could be as close as four with a win over the Anaheim Ducks (23-39-3). The Los Angeles Kings play the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow so it could go back to six points out of a playoff spot if they were to win.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights also have the same amount of points as the Kings and are on the road tonight in Calgary to face the Flames. 

But the focus continues to be on the Wild and what they can do to try and get into a playoff spot. A favorable matchup tonight against the Ducks who sit 30th in the NHL in points, will be the challenge for the Wild. 

Anaheim beat the Wild in the last game before the All-Star break back in late January. The Wild had a one-goal lead in the third period that game but lost. Minnesota can't let that happen again. 

Marc-Andre Fleury will be in net tonight for his third-straight game. It is the first time since November 4th-9th that Fleury has started three straight games. He started five straight games at the beginning of January but that was with Filip Gustavsson on the injured reserve. 

Joel Eriksson Ek will be out of the lineup tonight after getting hurt in the Wild's last game against the Arizona Coyotes. Eriksson Ek took a hit by Arizona's Nick Bjugstad in between the benches in the third period and did not return. 

Ryan Hartman will take his spot as the first-line center and will take the net-front spot on the Wild's top power play unit. Khusnutdinov, who is making his NHL debut, will slide onto the second power play unit where Hartman was. 

The defensive pairs will be the same as last game. 

Anaheim's Ben Meyers, who was recently acquired by the Ducks from Colorado, will play tonight. Jackson LaCombe played three seasons with both Meyers and Brock Faber with the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the NCAA. LaCombe and Meyers will now go up against Faber tonight. 

Kaprizov - Hartman - Boldy

Johansson - Rossi - Zuccarello 

Foligno - Khusnutdinov - Gaudreau

Shaw - Lucchini - Lettieri

Defense Pairs:

Middleton - Faber

Brodin - Bogosian

Merrill - Chisholm

Starting Goaltender: Fleury

Scratched: D Mermis, D Goligoski, & F Beckman

Injured: D Spurgeon, F Eriksson Ek

Ben Meyers - Mason McTavish - Alex Killorn

Frank Vatrano - Isac Lundestrom - Troy Terry

Brett Leason - Ryan Strome - Jakob Silfverberg

Ross Johnston - Bo Groulx - Pavol Regenda

Defense Pairs:

Cam Fowler - Olen Zellweger

Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas

Pavel Mintyukov - Urho Vaakanainen

Starting Goaltender: Lukas Dostal

Scratched: D Gustav Lindstrom & D William Lagesson

Injured: F Trevor Zegras, F Leo Carlsson, F Max Jones, & F Brock McGinn.

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