Preview: Wild at Devils

WILD (3-1-0) at DEVILS (1-2-1)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL TV

Wild team scope

Left wing Zach Parise needs one goal for 300 in his career. Parise, who played seven seasons for the New Jersey Devils before signing a 13-year contract with the Minnesota Wild on July 4, 2012, has yet to score this season; he's been playing on a line with center Eric Staal and right wing Charlie Coyle. Staal has three goals and Coyle has two. Parise has an assist in each of the past three games, all wins. "I've always said, I really enjoyed my time [in New Jersey]," Parise told the Wild website. "Still have a lot of good friends [there]. When it's the first place you played, the team that drafted you, you always have excitement and some jitters coming back. It's nice to be back in this building. That'd be great [to score a goal], a great place to do it, where it all started. That would be pretty special." Parise has one goal and five points in five games against the Devils. The Wild are 13-for-14 in penalty-killing through four games. Coach Bruce Boudreau said first-year assistant coach and Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Stevens has made a difference; the Wild were 27th in the League in penalty-killing in 2015-16 but are eighth this season. The Wild, who did not hold a morning skate, play the first of a four-game road trip that concludes Thursday at the Buffalo Sabres.

Devils team scope

Left wing Sergey Kalinin will make his season debut for the Devils on a line with center Vernon Fiddler and right wing Devante Smith-Pelly. Kalinin had eight goals and 15 points in 78 games as a rookie last season. He was placed on injured reserve Oct. 10 because of an illness but skated a sixth straight day with the Devils on Saturday morning and was activated off IR. "[Kalinin] is a big, strong player who skates well and is a good penalty-killer," coach John Hynes said. "He's a guy we think can play in key situations; he's good on the wall and a hard player to defend in the offensive zone. That's something that we feel adds value to our lineup." Hynes continues to juggle his line combinations in an attempt to get more consistent 5-on-5 play. "In order to be strong 5-on-5 you have to come in waves with four lines, you have to have repetitive shifts in the offensive zone and have periods where you dictate the play," Hynes said. "Right now, in almost every game, we haven't had all four lines consistently going in the right direction. That's what we're looking for."

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Eric Staal -- Charlie Coyle
Mikael Granlund -- Mikko Koivu -- Chris Stewart
Nino Niederreiter -- Erik Haula -- Jason Pominville
Jason Zucker -- Zac Dalpe -- Teemu Pulkkinen
Ryan Suter -- Marco Scandella
Mathew Dumba -- Jonas Brodin
Nate Prosser -- Christian Folin
Devan Dubnyk
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Joel Eriksson Ek
Injured:Jared Spurgeon (upper body)

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Adam Henrique -- Kyle Palmieri
Michael Cammalleri -- Travis Zajac -- Blake Speers
Beau Bennett -- Pavel Zacha -- PA Parenteau
Sergey Kalinin -- Vernon Fiddler -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
John Moore - Ben Lovejoy
Yohann Auvitu - Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched Jacob Josefson, Reid Boucher, Steven Santini
Injured: Jon Merrill (finger), Luke Gazdic (foot)

Status report

Haula (lower body) and Spurgeon (upper body) did not practice on Friday and their availability will not be known until the pregame skate. If Spurgeon can't play, he would likely be replaced in the lineup by Scandella, who missed Minnesota's 6-3 win the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday with an illness but returned to practice Friday. If Haula is unable to play, the Wild could make a roster call-up after 4 p.m. Saturday. …. Speers, 19, will play among the top six in the lineup alongside Cammalleri and Zajac. Palmieri rejoins Henrique and Hall on the top line as Hynes looks for more consistency throughout his lineup.

Who's hot

Suter has a goal and five points in four games. … Palmieri has two goals and three points in the past three games.