Ducks at Wild preview
Anaheim seeks first win in three games; Menell to make NHL debut for Minnesota
by Jessi Pierce / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
DUCKS (12-14-4) at WILD (14-12-4)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, PRIME, NHL.TV
The Game
Brennan Menell will make his NHL debut for the Minnesota Wild when they host the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old defenseman from Woodbury, Minnesota, was called up from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Thursday after defenseman Jared Spurgeon was injured.
The Wild are 5-1-0 in their past six games and 8-1-3 in their past 12. They had an 11-game point streak stopped Saturday with a 6-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Anaheim has lost two straight and is 3-8-4 in its past 15 games.
Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen will start for Minnesota.
John Gibson starts for the Ducks.
Players to watch
Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.
Wild forward Jason Zucker has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games.
They said it
"It certainly looks like [the Wild] got their act together. They've played much better over the last stretch. And when teams get that feel-good feeling going, that's a real intangible, a good one to have on your team. ... These teams that have gone from one extreme to another are very dangerous." -- Ducks coach Dallas Eakins
"[The Ducks are] big, they're strong and they've got great goaltending. I think John Gibson, who I think is playing tonight, has been almost unscoreable - - is that a word? - - against in this building. So, I mean, he obviously likes to play here. That and every time I've watched this team, when they lose, they come out harder the next night … they're going to want to come out here and get back on track." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
Ducks projected lineup
Devin Shore -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Troy Terry
Rickard Rakell -- Sam Steel -- Jakob Silfverberg
Max Comtois -- Adam Henrique -- Ondrej Kase
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Derek Grant -- Carter Rowney
Cam Fowler -- Erik Gudbranson
Josh Mahura -- Hampus Lindholm
Michael Del Zotto -- Korbinian Holzer
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched: Brendan Guhle
Injured: Josh Manson (lower body), Nick Ritchie (knee)
Wild projected lineup
Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise -- Ryan Donato -- Kevin Fiala
Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
Marcus Foligno -- Victor Rask -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter -- Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy -- Jonas Brodin
Brennan Menell -- Brad Hunt
Kaapo Kahkonen
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Nick Seeler, Devan Dubnyk
Injured: Jared Spurgeon (upper body), Mikko Koivu (lower body), Greg Pateryn (lower body)
Status report
Anaheim held an optional morning skate. …. The Wild reassigned forward Nico Sturm to Iowa on Monday. … Dubnyk will be away from the team with family issues Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to rejoin the team Thursday. His playing status remains unknown.
Stat pack
Anaheim is 0-3-2 in its past five road games. … Zuccarello has five points (three goals, two assists) during a three-game goal streak. … Brodin has six assists in his past five games.