Preview: Wild at Canadiens

WILD (19-8-4) at CANADIENS (21-7-4)
(7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, SN360, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)

Wild team scope

The Minnesota Wild, who have won eight straight games, have an opportunity to tie the longest winning streak in franchise history on Thursday. Minnesota had a nine-game winning streak from March 8-24, 2007. "I think it's a combination of a lot of things," forward Jason Pominville said about the winning streak after an optional morning skate. "I mean, to have these streaks, you've got to have depth, and I think we have that, whether it's on forward and on defense. On any given night one line can be the difference. Our special teams have gotten better, and obviously our goaltending has been phenomenal. And in the past we've been a team that has defended really hard, and I think we're still there, but you add that element to a team and it makes us a pretty frustrating team to play against for the opposition." Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves in a 2-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday for his NHL-leading fifth shutout of the season.

Canadiens team scope

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin missed the morning skate and will not play with his wife expecting to give birth to their third child on Thursday. Joel Hanley, who was recalled from St. John's of the American Hockey League, will play. Montreal remains without defenseman Andrei Markov, who sustained a lower-body injury against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Goalie Carey Price will make his seventh straight start in a showdown of two of the top goalies in the League this season. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was a teammate of Dubnyk's with Hamilton of the AHL in 2013-14. "He really shot up after he left here," Beaulieu said. "He was always working really hard when he we had him in Hamilton for a bit, so I'm not really surprised at the success he's had. So we're going to have to get a lot of traffic in front of him, get to the dirty areas, and it should be fun for the fans because they are probably two of the best in the League right now."

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Eric Staal -- Jason Pominville
Jason Zucker -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederreiter -- Tyler Graovac -- Charlie Coyle
Chris Stewart -- Pat Cannone -- Jordan Schroeder
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba
Marco Scandella -- Christian Folin
Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched:Nate Prosser, Kurtis Gabriel
Injured:Victor Bartley (arm), Erik Haula (lower body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Max Pacioretty -- Phillip Danault -- Alexander Radulov
Paul Byron -- Torrey Mitchell -- Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brian Flynn
Chris Terry -- Michael McCarron -- Daniel Carr
Joel Hanley -- Shea Weber
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jeff Petry
Mark Barberio -- Zach Redmond
Scratched:Alexei Emelin
Injured:Andrei Markov (lower body), Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Greg Pateryn (ankle)

Status report

Spurgeon is scheduled to play his 400th game. ... Granlund, Parise and Coyle did not take part in the optional morning skate. ... Forward Sven Andrighetto was assigned to St. John's of the AHL on Thursday.

Who's hot

Staal has seven points during a five-game point streak (four goals, three assists). ... Coyle has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak. ... Koivu has a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists). ... Granlund has seven points in his past seven games (two goals, five assists). ... Plekanec has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his past seven games after having seven points in his first 25 games (one goal, six assists). ... Byron has four goals and three assists in his past seven games. ... Petry tied his career-high with three points Tuesday and has seven points (four goals and three assists) in his past five games.