The Minnesota Wild (16-13-4) are aiming to extend their win streak to five games in Winnipeg on Saturday afternoon against the Jets (20-9-4), who are 8-1-2 in the month of December. The Central Division rivals will close out the calendar year and finish the home and home in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon.
This is the first meeting between these clubs this season, and the back-to-back this weekend could feel like a playoff series. Saturday’s game marks the Wild's first Central Division matchup since Dec. 3 when they beat the Blackhawks 4-1.
The Wild earned a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at home on Wednesday in their first game after the three-day holiday break. The Wild improved to 11-3 under coach John Hynes in the win and have won seven of their past eight contests.
There's four important points on the line this weekend as the Jets try to reclaim first place in the Central, while the Wild try to continue to climb the standings toward a playoff spot. The Wild are three points away from the Predators in the second wild card spot, but have three games in hand on Nashville.
There is a chance that Jared Spurgeon, who has missed the past seven games with a lower-body injury, returns Saturday afternoon, while Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello remain out of the lineup with upper-body injuries.
Wild projected lines
Kaprizov — Eriksson Ek — Boldy
Johansson — Rossi — Hartman
Foligno — Gaudreau — Maroon
Duhaime — Dewar — Lettieri
Defensive pairs:
Middleton — Faber
Goligoski — Bogosian
Merrill — Mermis
Projected starter: Gustavsson
Jets projected lines
Nikolaj Ehlers — Mark Scheifele — Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti — Vladislav Namestnikov — Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter — Adam Lowry — Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron — Dominic Toninato — Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Defensive pairs:
Josh Morrissey — Dylan Demelo
Brenden Dillion — Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg — Nate Schmidt
Projected starter: Connor Hellebuyck