The Wild are set to face off against the Dallas Stars at home before going to Sweden for the Global Series. Here's a preview along with line combos.
After returning from a three-game road trip in New York, the Wild host the Dallas Stars tonight at 5:00 p.m. before leaving for the NHL's Global Series in Sweden next week.
The Wild will be in Sweden for a game against the Ottawa Senators at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and follow that up with a 7:00 a.m. game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday the 19th.
Minnesota will play four total games over the next two weeks so the standings may seem out of wack, especially if they lose a lot of these games.
But tonight the Wild face the red-hot Stars who are off to a 9-3-1 start to the season. The Stars played last night in Winnipeg where they beat the Jets 3-2. Tonight will mark Jared Spurgeon's second game of the year and newly acquired Zach Bogosian's, first home game with the Wild.
The Wild will look to get back on track after winning the first game against the New York Islanders on the road trip and dropping the next two against the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres.
Although the Wild looked great against the Sabres and allowed under 30 shots for the fourth straight game, they just haven't been able to keep the puck out of their own net.
Marc-Andre Fleury will start tonight for the Wild with Jake Oettinger for the Stars. Fleury, 38, is 3-3-1 on the year with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage in seven games played. Fleury is also four wins away from tying Patrick Roy for second all-time in NHL History and just recently past Roy for third all-time in saves.
Oettinger, 24, is 6-2-1 with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage in nine games played. The Minnesota native has a 4-0-1 record in 7 games with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage against the Wild in his career.
Wild projected lines
Kirill Kaprizov - Ryan Hartman - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Marco Rossi - Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Pat Maroon
Brandon Duhaime - Connor Dewar - Vinni Lettieri
Jake Middleton - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Brock Faber
Dakota Mermis - Zach Bogosian
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Nic Petan
Injured: Frederick Gaudreau (upper body), Alex Goligoski (lower body)
Stars projected lines
Jason Robertson - Roope Hintz - Joe Pavelski
Jamie Benn - Wyatt Johnston - Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment - Matt Duchene - Tyler Seguin
Sam Steel - Radek Faksa - Craig Smith
Ryan Suter - Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell - Jani Hakanpaa
Thomas Harley - Nils Lundkvist
Jake Oettinger
Scratched: Ty Dellandrea, Joel Hanley
Injured: None