The Ducks enter tonight's game with points in three consecutive games (1-0-2, four points), along with points in four of the last five (2-1-2, six points). Anaheim is coming off a 3-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night, an unusual back-to-back following a six-game road trip. Ryan Miller earned his 40th career shutout to move into a tie for the second-most shutouts in NHL history among U.S.-born goaltenders. Adam Henrique kept the good times rolling by scoring his first two goals as a Duck to give him points in all four games since the trade (2g/3a). Ondrej Kase set a career high in goals (6), besting his previous high (5) set last season.
Anaheim is facing a well-rested Minnesota team that will play just its second game since Sunday. This is middle contest of a three-game road trip that began on Tuesday with a 5-2 loss in LA. Following tonight's game, the Wild will fly up the coast to San Jose to face the Sharks on Sunday. The Wild has gone 5-4-1 over its last 10 games and brings a 5-8-1 road record into tonight's contest. Charlie Coyle is riding a five-game point streak (5 points, 2g/3a) and has six points (2g/4a) in eight games since returning from injury on November 20. The 25-year-old forward missed 16 games after fracturing his right fibula on October 12. Jason Zucker had his six-game point streak end in the loss to the Kings, but has at least one point in 12 of his last 15 games since November 6 (15 points, 10g/5a). Zucker, born in Newport Beach, paces the Wild in goals (13) and ranks second in points (22), plus-minus (+6), power-play goals (3) and multi-point games (5).
Tonight's contest is the opener of a three-game season series between the Ducks and Wild and the first of two held in Anaheim. These clubs will meet again on Saturday, February 17 at Xcel Energy Center (11 a.m. PT) before concluding in the final week of the regular season on Wednesday, April 4 at Honda Center (7 p.m. PT). The Ducks have gone 30-20-9 all-time vs. the Wild, including an 18-9-3 mark at Honda Center. Corey Perry leads active Ducks in career scoring against Minnesota with 36 points (18g/18a) in 41 games.
