Ducks at Wild preview

DUCKS (23-27-9) at WILD (27-26-6)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, PRIME, NHL.TV

The Wild, 0-3-1 in their past four games, lost five consecutive games (0-4-1) from Dec. 15-27. Minnesota, 1-5-3 in its past nine games, holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with 60 points, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks.
The Ducks, 2-1-0 in their past three games following a seven-game losing streak (0-7-0), are 4-16-4 in their past 24 games and trail the Wild by five points in the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf has four assists in his past four games.
Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past three games.

They said it

"[Minnesota] is going to be playing well, controlling their offensive zone. That's something we've been trying to work on is our D-zone, so it's going to be a good matchup as they're trying to get back to something that they do well and we're trying got get better at something we have to improve on, and it will make the difference in the game." -- Ducks goalie Ryan Miller
"It's all about this game. We can't sit there and go, 'OK, we play [the] New York [Rangers] and Detroit [Red Wings] next,' let's worry about this game. This is the most important game right now." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Ducks projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Corey Perry
Max Jones -- Adam Henrique -- Troy Terry
Devin Shore -- Derek Grant -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie -- Ryan Kesler -- Carter Rowney
Cam Fowler -- Michael Del Zotto
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Jaycob Megna -- Brandon Montour
Ryan Miller
Kevin Boyle
Scratched: Andy Welinski, Daniel Sprong
Injured: Patrick Eaves (illness), John Gibson (upper body), Chad Johnson (head)

Wild projected lineup

Jordan Greenway -- Eric Staal -- Jason Zucker
Zach Parise -- Mikael Granlund -- Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Brad Hunt -- Eric Fehr -- Pontus Aberg
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Anthony Bitetto
Nick Seeler -- Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Cal O'Reilly
Injured: Matt Dumba (upper body), Mikko Koivu (knee), Matt Hendricks (lower body), Victor Rask (lower body)

Status report

Anaheim held an optional morning skate. … Aberg returns after missing seven games with a lower body injury. … Hendricks skated for the first time since his injury and has been cleared to practice. … Rask was placed on injured reserve. … O'Reilly, a center, was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Monday.

Stat pack

The Ducks have allowed at least four goals in six of past their past nine games. … Henrique had three points (two goals, one assists) in a 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. … Granlund has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.