Wild at Golden Knights preview

WILD (35-33-9) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (42-29-6)
10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-N+, ESPN+, NHL.TV

Vegas, which made the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2017-18, would also qualify for the postseason if the Arizona Coyotes lose to the Colorado Avalanche in any fashion on Friday. The Golden Knights trail the San Jose Sharks by five points for second place in the Pacific Division.
The Wild are four points behind the Avalanche for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference but have lost nine of their past 12 games (3-6-3). Minnesota, which is 2-0-0 all time at T-Mobile Arena, is 13-6-2 in its past 21 road games.

Players to watch

Wild forward Ryan Donato has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past six games.
Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past six games. He is one point from 300 in the NHL.

They said it

"I think, when you get traded, you're a bit worried about what the new team is going to be like. Coming here was so special. … It's going to be special going back, but I'm really happy I'm with the Minnesota Wild." -- Wild defenseman Brad Hunt, who was acquired in a trade with the Golden Knights on Jan. 21 for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft
"We've kind of known where we stand for a little bit. It's not a reason to let your foot off the gas, but at the same time, we want to make sure everyone feels good about their game." -- Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty

Wild projected lineup

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

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone
Tomas Nosek -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch
William Carrier -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Nate Schmidt -- Deryk Engelland
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill -- Colin Miller
Malcolm Subban
Maxime Lagace
Scratched: Brandon Pirri, Ryan Carpenter, Nick Holden
Injured: Marc-Andre Fleury (lower body), Erik Haula (lower body)

Status report

Pacioretty (lower body) will return after missing the past three games. ... Parise and Eriksson Ek are each a game-time decision. … Fleury is not expected to play Friday or Saturday against the Sharks, but could return against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Stat pack

Karlsson has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games. He is four assists from 100 in the NHL. ... Hunt had 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 58 games with the Golden Knights.