The Minnesota Wild face the Ottawa Senators Saturday at 10 a.m. Central time inside Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden in their first of two games as part of the NHL Global Series. The Wild also play the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday at 7 a.m.
The Wild (5-8-2) enter Saturday's contest on a three-game losing streak and have lost nine out of their past 12 games. The Senators (7-7) have won three out of their past four, which includes a 5-4 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings Thursday in their first game in Sweden.
While the Wild are enjoying everything Sweden has to offer, they've practiced their special teams this week and have made it clear that this is a business trip.
“It’s supposed to be a good experience — but we’re there to get four points,” head coach Dean Evason said Monday after practice. “That’s our goal.
"We’ll have some fun, obviously, we’ll take in a different country and culture and all that good stuff. But when the puck’s dropped, we’re pretty desperate for wins right now.”
The good news for the Wild is that they've had a lot of success against the Senators over the past seven years with an 11-1-0 head-to-head record dating back to Nov. 13, 2016.
Filip Gustavsson starts in goal Saturday against his former team with Marc-Andre Fleury expected to be between the pipes Sunday against the Maple Leafs.
Jon Merrill, who has been scratched five games in a row, is expected to play his first game since Nov. 2 with Dakota Mermis (a -1 with five points in 13 games this season) scratched.
Marco Rossi is getting another look on the top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, while the trio of Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy are reunited on the second line. Ryan Hartman is centering Marcus Foligno and Pat Maroon on the third line, and the fourth line remains intact.
In other news, Freddy Gaudreau, who hasn't played since Oct. 24, is expected to come off long-term injured reserve Sunday to play against Toronto, The Athletic's Michael Russo reported.
Key stats
Even strength goal differential: Senators (41-35; 11th), Wild (37-40, 21st)
Power play percentage: Senators (21.3%; 11th), Wild (17.5%; 19th)
Penalty kill percentage: Senators (76.6%; 19th), Wild (63.5%, 32nd)
Save percentage: Senators (.887; 23rd), Wild (.870; 32nd)
All data via Natural Stat Trick
Wild projected lines
Kaprizov — Rossi — Zuccarello
Johansson — Eriksson Ek — Boldy
Foligno — Hartman — Maroon
Duhaime — Dewar — Lettieri
Defensive pairs:
Brodin — Faber
Middleton — Spurgeon
Merrill — Bogosian
Projected starter: Gustavsson
Ottawa projected lines
Brady Tkachuk — Josh Norris — Vladimir Tarasenko
Mathieu Joseph — Tim Stutzle — Claude Giroux
Dominik Kubalik — Roby Jarventie — Drake Batherson
Matthew Highmore — Rourke Chartier — Parker Kelly
Defensive pairings:
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Jakob Chychrun — Jacob Bernard Docker
Erik Bannstrom — Travis Hamonic
Projected starter: Anton Forsberg / Joonas Korpisalo