Wild at Sharks preview

WILD (33-26-7) at SHARKS (29-33-4)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV

Staal, second on the Wild with 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists), did not travel to San Jose because of a death in the family.
Goalie Alex Stalock will make his sixth straight start for the Wild, who trail the Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks by one point for the second wild card into the playoffs from the West.
Goalie Martin Jones will make his fourth straight start for the Sharks, who have won three in a row and outscored opponents 13-4 to start a six-game homestand.

Players to watch

Wild forward Kevin Fiala has a team-record, five-game multipoint streak (five goals, six assists).
Sharks goalie Martin Jones has stopped 76 of 80 shots (.950 save percentage) in his past three games.

They said it

"It seems like we've had some injuries, guys missing games, and others have stepped up whether it's an NHL guy or someone up from the minors. When the opportunity arises, you want to take full advantage of it." -- Wild forward Marcus Foligno
"They're heavier on the forecheck. They send two guys instead of the typical 1-2-2. We're going to have less time on our breakouts which means we have to get back and have better support."-- Sharks coach Bob Boughner

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Luke Kunin -- Kevin Fiala
Gerry Mayhew -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Jordan Greenway
Marcus Foligno -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Donato -- Mikko Koivu -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin --
Matt Dumba
Brad Hunt -- Greg Pateryn
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
Scratched:Eric Staal, Matt Bartkowski, Victor Rask
Injured:Carson Soucy (upper body)

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Noah Gregor
Timo Meier -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Joel Kellman -- Dylan Gambrell
Melker Karlsson -- Antti Suomela -- Stefan Noesen
Radim Simek -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Mario Ferraro
Brandon Davidson -- Tim Heed
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Lean Bergmann, Alexander True
Injured:Tomas Hertl (knee), Jake Middleton (ankle), Dalton Prout (concussion), Erik Karlsson (broken thumb)

Status report

Staal is day to day, Wild coach Dean Evason said. … Kunin moves from wing to center on the first line to replace Staal, with Fiala at right wing. Mayhew will play left wing on the second line.

Stat pack

Minnesota has won five straight on the road and outscored opponents 23-9. … Parise has goals in three straight games and a four-game point streak (three goals, three assists). … Suter has an assist in each of his past three games. … Kane (three goals, three assists) and Couture (two goals, one assist) each has a three-game point streak. ... Labanc needs two assists for 100 in the NHL.