The Minnesota Wild face the Anaheim Ducks with both teams heading in opposite directions to start the season. The Wild have an 18-11-2 record and with five wins in a row have leaped into third place in the Central Division. The Ducks meanwhile have a 9-20-3 record and are in last place in the Pacific Division. Both teams are looking to improve in the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Wild are having a great season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.13 goals per game including 12 goals in the last three games. Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Joel Eriksson Ek have scored 43 goals and 60 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the forward unit has also stepped up. Matt Boldy, Frederick Gaudreau, and Sam Steel have combined for 25 goals and 23 assists while defensemen Calen Addison and Jared Spurgeon have added five goals and 24 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has stepped up but the defense has carried the Wild, allowing only 2.84 goals per game with only five goals in the last five games. Jared Spurgeon and Jacob Middleton have combined for 4.3 defensive point shares and 115 blocked shots while Mathew Dumba, Jonas Brodin, and Jonathan Merrill have combined for 4.0 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. The hope is t hat goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury can step up in the net as he has a .899 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average on 562 shots.