The Minnesota Wild (12-12-4) hope to extend their three-game win streak tonight on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-13-3), who have lost five of seven games so far during the month of December.
Then the Wild travel to Boston to play the Bruins (19-5-5) on Tuesday night before returning home.
With seven wins in nine games under John Hynes, the Wild are back in the wild card race and are only four points away from the Arizona Coyotes — who hold the second wild card spot. So, this two-game road trip not only serves as a good test for the Wild but also an opportunity for them to reduce the gap.
The Wild, who have a 5-8-2 road record, hope to continue their momentum tonight after wins over the Seattle Kraken (3-0) on Dec. 10, the Calgary Flames on Thursday (3-2) and the Vancouver Canucks (21-9-2) on Saturday.
Here's how the Wild stack up against Pittsburgh and Boston:
Five-on-five Corsi for % — Penguins (52.44), Wild (50.75), Bruins (48.95)
Five-on-five goals for % — Bruins (57.82), Wild (54.05), Penguins (53.64)
Five-on-five expected goals for % — Penguins (51.60), Wild (51.58), Bruins (50.22)
Power play % — Bruins (24.2), Wild (16.8), Penguins (12.9)
Penalty kill % — Bruins (88.3), Penguins (81.1), Wild (73)
Faceoffs % — Penguins (54.6), Bruins (50.4), Wild (45.2)
The Wild end the week at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
All data via Natural Stat Trick