ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild begin their three-game homestand tonight against the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-1) before facing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and then the Edmonton Oilers next Tuesday.
The Wild, who sit second in the Central Division, are 2-1 to start the season after wins against the Florida Panthers in their home opener and the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Sandwiched between the wins was a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here are three keys to the game:
More goals from top players — The Wild have 11 goals through three games and have received offensive contributions from everywhere in the lineup. Five goals have come from their bottom-six and blue line: Brandon Duhaime has already scored twice, while Connor Dewar, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber have each scored once.
Joel Eriksson Ek is off to a red-hot start with a team-leading three goals. Matt Boldy, out with a week-to-week upper-body injury, scored once in his two appearances before getting injured last Saturday in Toronto.
But the Wild only have two goals from the rest of their top-six. Ryan Hartman and Kirill Kaprizov have one goal apiece, while Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson are still searching for their first tally of the season.
The Wild need more from them moving forward, especially on this homestand and without Boldy.
Better five-on-five play — The Wild need to be on their game and start scoring more at five-on-five as they’ve scored just five goals in three games and have allowed seven.
The addition of Sammy Walker's speed and scoring touch should help the Wild in that regard after being shorthanded and having to double shift players Saturday in Montreal. Walker, who has a goal and assist in nine NHL games, has a huge opportunity in front of him with Boldy out of the lineup.
The visiting Kings have outscored opponents 8-7 at five-on-five through three games, but their underlying numbers have been strong with the second highest expected goal share (59.64%) and scoring chance share (61.21) league-wide. When it comes to Corsi (shot attempts), they hold the 10th highest share (53.97%).
So the Wild will need to be sound defensively and get strong goaltending tonight in addition to their need for scoring from players not named Eriksson Ek at the top of their lineup.
Stay disciplined — While it’s true that the Wild rank No. 2 in the league right now with two shorthanded goals behind the Carolina Hurricanes at four, Minnesota needs to stay out of the box and be more disciplined.
The Wild have committed 16 minor penalties through their first three games. The Kings’ power play has been average so far as it’s converted on 17.6 percent of its opportunities for 14th league-wide. But the Wild need to limit their infractions before it catches up to them because the Kings have the personnel to make them pay.
All data via Natural Stat Trick