The Rangers, who have won five of their past seven games (5-2-0), trail the Philadelphia Flyers by nine points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who started the past two games for New York, is day to day with a lower-body injury. Goalie Alex Stalock will start for Minnesota which is 7-3-0 in its past 10 games after going 1-5-1 in its previous seven. The Wild are four points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card from the Western Conference.
Players to watch
Rangers forward Chris Kreider has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his past 14 games. Wild forward Kevin Fiala has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.
They said it
"We're playing with a little more mental freedom and way more playing off instincts and trusting each other, and when you do that, you play faster and have more success." -- Rangers coach David Quinn "They're excited to play I think. When you have success, you can't wait for your next shift. That's the way it is. When things aren't going well, you're going, "Oh my I got to go out there again.'"-- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
Panarin has 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in his past 18 games. … Parise has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his past 11 games. … Minnesota has 15 power-play goals on 34 attempts in its past 11 games (44.1 percent).
