Wild at Panthers preview

WILD (33-27-8) at PANTHERS (28-27-12)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-F, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV

The Wild are 6-0-2 in their past eight games, including a 3-0 victory at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. They have a three-point lead over the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and are one point behind the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild card.
The Panthers will try to end a six-game losing streak (0-2-4) that includes a 4-3 loss at the Boston Bruins on Thursday, when they allowed two goals in the final minute of the third period. Florida is 11 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Wild forward Jason Zucker has six goals in the past six games, including a natural hat trick in the victory against Tampa Bay.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in the past 11 games.

They said it

"He's always been a streaky player. We just hope that this streak doesn't end." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau on forward Jason Zucker
"It's tough. Back at it tomorrow, so we've just got to, I guess, forget about that." -- Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau after the 4-3 loss at Boston on Thursday.

Wild projected lineup

Ryan Donato -- Eric Staal -- Jason Zucker
Zach Parise -- Jordan Greenway -- Kevin Fiala
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Pontus Aberg
Matt Read
-- Eric Fehr -- JT Brown
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Brad Hunt
Greg Pateryn -- Nick Seeler
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched:Anthony Bitetto
Injured:Victor Rask (lower body), Mikko Koivu (knee), Matt Dumba (ruptured right pectoral muscle), Luke Kunin (upper body)

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Frank Vatrano -- Vincent Trocheck -- Mike Hoffman
Jamie McGinn -- Riley Sheahan -- Troy Brouwer
Dryden Hunt -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Jayce Hawryluk
Mike Matheson - Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- MacKenzie Weegar
Ian McCoshen - Mark Pysyk
Sam Montembeault
Roberto Luongo
Scratched:Josh Brown
Injured:Colton Sceviour (wrist), James Reimer (lower body), Denis Malgin (lower body)

Status report

Neither team had a morning skate. … Kunin did not return after being injured in the second period against Tampa Bay as the result of a check by Cedric Paquette. … Rask, who has missed the past 11 games, took part in the morning skate Thursday.

Stat pack

Staal has two goals and eight assists during an eight-game point streak, his longest of the season. … Donato's two assists Thursday gave him nine points in eight games since being acquired by the Wild in a trade with Boston on Feb. 20. … Barkov needs one goal to join and Mike Hoffman the first Panthers teammates with 30 goals in a season since Olli Jokinen and Nathan Horton in 2006-07.