The Minnesota Wild will go for their fourth win in a row when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Minnesota is coming off a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday, which marked its third consecutive one-goal victory. The Wild have won six of their past seven games and are 10-3-0 since the team fired coach Dean Evason and replaced him with John Hynes.
Wild veteran forward Marcus Foligno said the team’s three-day break arrived at a perfect time.
“This has been a grind,” Foligno said. “We’re trying to catch up in the standings, so it’s like extra, extra work, and then mentally a little bit of fatigue. So to be going into the break with another win is huge, and the consistency we’ve been getting has been nice.”
Meanwhile, Detroit is eager to come out of the holiday break with a fresh start. The Red Wings have lost five of their past six games, including a 3-2 setback against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in their most recent game.
The Red Wings have given up 18 goals in their past four games.
Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said he and his teammates were ready to move past their recent struggles.
“It’s very difficult,” Larkin said. “We’ve been going through the ringer here and need this break. We need to hit the reset button.”
James Reimer is expected to start in net for Detroit. He is 3-5-2 with a 3.16 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in 11 games (nine starts) this season.
The 35-year-old Reimer is 8-5-1 with a 2.45 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 15 career games against the Wild. He is in his first season in Detroit after spending the past two seasons with the San Jose Sharks.
Minnesota is expected to counter with Filip Gustavsson between the pipes. He is 9-8-2 with a 2.90 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 20 starts this season.
Gustavsson has made three career starts against Detroit. He is 1-2-0 with a 2.05 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
Kirill Kaprizov will look to stay hot coming out of the break for Minnesota. He has a three-game goal-scoring streak and has tallied six points (four goals, two assists) during that span.
In 32 games this season, Kaprizov has 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) to lead the team.
Detroit’s top point scorer is Alex DeBrincat, who has 32 (15 goals, 17 assists) in 34 games. Larkin is next with 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 28 games, and Lucas Raymond ranks third with 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 34 games.
This is the second and final meeting of the regular season between the teams. Detroit won the first matchup 4-1 on its home ice on Nov. 26.
David Perron scored two goals in the victory. Larkin and Shayne Gostisbehere added one goal apiece.
Joel Eriksson Ek scored the lone goal for the Wild. Minnesota lost despite outshooting Detroit 38-23.
–Field Level Media
