The Wild, who have lost two in a row and are 1-4-2 in their past seven games, are without forwards Victor Rask (lower body) and Matt Hendricks (upper body) who were each injured during a 5-4 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Defenseman Brad Hunt will play as a forward. Goalie Keith Kinkaid likely will start for the Devils, who have lost two straight and are coming off of a 5-2 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. They are 1-4-1 in their past six games allowing at least four goals in four of them, and are 3-8-1 in their past 12.
Players to watch
Devils forward Nico Hischier has four assists in his past three games and eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games. Wild forward Zach Parise has three points (two goals, one assist) in a three-game point streak. He leads the Wild with 23 goals and 49 points.
They said it
"There are 50-50 plays there that we need to make. ...That's how it's going for us. No way to feel sorry for ourselves. We do it to ourselves and it's on us to get out of it." -- Devils defenseman Andy Greene "Every game is different. You (have to) go out there and prepare for one game. That's all I told the guys. Don't worry about who you're playing next, or who you played before or what happened before or what somebody said here or what you read about there; you just prepare for tonight's game and play your best and good things usually happen when you do that." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
New Jersey did not hold a morning skate. … Hendricks and Rask are each day-to-day.
Stat pack
Johansson has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games. … The Devils have won their past three games against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center…Kunin has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games. … Eriksson Ek has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past four games.
