Critical homestand <em>The Wild (17-19-4) aim to get back in the win column against the Philadelphia Flyers (21-14-6) Friday night in St. Paul.</em> [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzNTgxMzY2MDc4NTQ3ODMw/usatsi_21741435.jpg] <em>The Wild (17-19-4) aim to get back in the win column against the Philadelphia Flyers (21-14-6) Friday night in St. Paul.</em> ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild are coming off two straight losses to the Dallas Stars, a 4-0 shutout loss at home on Monday and 7-2 loss on Wednesday in Dallas in top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt's NHL debut. The injury-riddled Wild have lost six of their past seven games after winning four in a row. They sit seven points outside of the second wild-card spot in the West, which is currently held by the Nashville Predators. So, the Wild are set to start a critical three-game homestand tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, who are 3-4-3 in their past 10 games. Marc-Andre Fleury is starting in net tonight with another opportunity to pass Patrick Roy for sole possession of second place all-time in regular-season wins. This is Fleury's sixth start in the past seven games. He has had an increased workload due to the absence of Filip Gustavsson, who has been out the past six games with a lower-body injury. The Wild then face the Arizona Coyotes — who are 5-5 in their past 10 games — on Saturday in what will be Matt Dumba's first game back in St. Paul since signing a one-year contract with the Coyotes in free agency last summer. The Wild end their three-game homestand Monday against the New York Islanders, who are 4-4-2 in their past 10 contests. In all, the Wild have three games over the course of the next four games with six critical points on the line. If the Wild want to have a successful homestand, they’ve got to score more at five-on-five. In the past seven games, they have just five goals at five-on-five, which isn’t a recipe for success. Did ya know? There is a total of seven former Wild players making an appearance during this three-game homestand: Nic Deslauriers (PHI), Nick Seeler (PHI), Dumba (ARI), Jason Zucker (ARI), Nick Bjugstad (ARI), Mike Reilly (NYI) and Cal Clutterbuck (NYI). REQUIRED READING
