Playing the second contest of a back-to-back set, the Minnesota Wild (6th in Central Division) will try to end a two-game skid while visiting the Anaheim Ducks (7th in Pacific), who have dropped two of their past three decisions.
A second consecutive defeat (0-2-0) came about for the Minnesota Wild (5-6-1), who started their current three-date road trek with a 1-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena last night. Minnesota killed all four of its penalties, including a five-minute one after Kirill Kaprizov (8 goals, 13 points this year) received a game misconduct in the second period, but failed on their sole power-play chance and could not find the back of the net for the second straight game following a 4-0 home defeat against the Seattle Kraken last Thursday. The Wild had gone 5-1-1 in seven outings prior to the current skid.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (5-3-1 on the year with a 3.17 GAA and a .896 save percentage) made 29 saves yesterday, but will vacate the crease for Filip Gustavsson ahead of tonight’s trip to Anaheim. Gustavsson is 0 -3-0 for the ongoing campaign with a 3.93 GAA and a .878 save percentage, and is set to face the Ducks for the first time in his career. The Wild, meanwhile, are burying the 8th lowest amount of goals per game this season (2.83), while conceding the 10th highest bulk defensively (3.42). They are 8th in power play (25.6%; 10-for-39) and 21st in penalty kill (76.3%; 29-for-38).