Wild at Coyotes preview

WILD (36-20-7) at COYOTES (18-34-10)
9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-N, NHL.TV

A six-game winning streak would be the Wild's longest since they won 12 in a row from Dec. 4-29, 2016.
The Wild are third in the Central Division, four points behind the second-place Winnipeg Jets and three ahead of the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They have scored four goals or more in four of their past five games.
The Coyotes are 6-2-1 in their past nine games but trail the Anaheim Ducks by 28 points for the second wild card into the playoffs from the West. They have scored two goals or fewer in four straight games.

Players to watch

Wild center Eric Staal, the NHL's First Star for February, has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak. He has 21 points (13 goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games.
Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta is 3-1-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and two shutouts in his past four starts.

They said it

"This a great league with a lot of great players. To be recognized in that respect is nice for sure." -- Wild center Eric Staal
"He plays a real north style and he doesn't take the puck back much. When you play teams like that, and especially a guy like Staal, they tend to go north and you've really got to manage the puck." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise -- Mikko Koivu -- Charlie Coyle
Nino Niederreiter -- Matt Cullen -- Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Daniel Winnik
Ryan Suter -- Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin -- Jared Spurgeon
Nick Seeler -- Nate Prosser
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
Scratched:Gustav Olofsson, Luke Kunin
Injured: None

Coyotes projected lineup

Brendan Perlini -- Derek Stepan -- Clayton Keller
Max Domi -- Christian Dvorak -- Christian Fischer
Jordan Martinook -- Brad Richardson -- Nick Cousins
Richard Panik -- Freddie Hamilton -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Kevin Connauton -- Alex Goligoski
Antti Raanta
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched:Zac Rinaldo, Luke Schenn
Injured: None

Status report

Domi skated after missing practice Tuesday with an undisclosed illness. He is expected to play. … The Coyotes had an optional skate Thursday. … Panik (lower body) practiced Tuesday and Wednesday and is also expected to play. … Prosser (face) skated and is expected to play.

Stat pack

Minnesota's top line of Zucker, Staal and Granlund has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in its past three games. … Stepan has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.