Wild at Rangers preview

WILD (33-20-7) at RANGERS (27-29-5)
7 p.m. ET; NHL Network, MSG, FS-N+, NHL.TV

The Wild, who have won at the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils this week, are fourth in the Central Division, one point behind the Dallas Stars. They're in position to be the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Rangers are on a five-game losing streak (0-5-0) that started with a 3-2 loss against the Wild on Feb. 13. They're six points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
New York traded forward Michael Grabner to the New Jersey Devils for a second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and defenseman prospect Yegor Rykov on Thursday. Forward Rick Nash is expected to be traded before the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday at 3 p.m. ET. He won't play against the Wild.

Players to watch

Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba has three assists in the past two games and has matched his NHL high with 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) this season.
Rangers center Kevin Hayes has goals in back-to-back games and eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past seven games.

They said it

"I think showing them the facts and showing them how bad we were on the road was a wakeup call, especially when you were one of the best road teams in the League last year. … Now I think they love going out on the road and winning on the road." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"You've got to focus on what you need to do to go out on the ice and play a good game. That's what the 20 skaters we have in every night, that's what they need to focus on." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault

Wild projected lineup

Jason Zucker -- Mikko Koivu -- Mikael Granlund
Tyler Ennis -- Eric Staal - Nino Niederreiter
Zach Parise -- Matt Cullen -- Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Daniel Winnik
Ryan Suter - Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler
-- Jared Spurgeon
Mike Reilly -- Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Chris Stewart, Gustav Olofsson
Injured: Jonas Brodin (hand)

Rangers projected lineup

Vinni Lettieri -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey -- Kevin Hayes -- Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey -- David Desharnais -- Jesper Fast
Cody McLeod -- Peter Holland -- J.T. Miller
Brady Skjei -- Neal Pionk
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Rob O'Gara
--
John Gilmour
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexander Georgiev
Scratched:Rick Nash
Injured:Chris Kreider (blood clot), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Ondrej Pavelec (knee), Ryan McDonagh (upper body), Steven Kampfer (hand)

Status report

Kreider, Shattenkirk, McDonagh, Nash and Pavelec skated Friday morning. Kreider, who has missed the past 24 games, could return against the Wild or against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. … Stewart stayed on the ice with Stalock and Olofsson to do extra work Friday, an indication that he'll be scratched. Foligno, who was scratched Thursday, is expected to play.

Stat pack

The Wild are 3-5-1 and the Rangers are 3-5-0 in the second game of a back-to-back set this season.