Jets at Wild preview

JETS (46-29-4) at WILD (36-34-9)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N+, TSN3, NHL.TV

Minnesota, which has three wins in its past 11 games (3-7-1), is five points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference and would be eliminated with a regulation loss, or if the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Edmonton Oilers, or if they lose in overtime or a shootout and the Avalanche get at least one point.
Wild forward Zach Parise, who has missed the past four games with a lower-body injury, will be a game-time decision.
Goalie Eric Comrie will make his first start of the season for the Jets, who ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, and are two points ahead of the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division.

Players to watch

Jets forward Kyle Connor has no points in his past three games after having 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his previous five.
Wild forward Ryan Donato has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"Going into Minnesota, it's nice to have that (losing streak) behind us. Hopefully we can string some wins together. For the most part we played a much better game (in Chicago). A little more complete. You try and take that and build off that." --Jets forward Adam Lowry
"Emotions are we're not out (of the playoffs) yet, so you've just got to bear down and do what you can and win. Obviously the balls really have to fall in the right order, but nothing's going to work if you don't win three in a row. So, we'll go until we can't go anymore." --Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Kevin Hayes -- Patrik Laine
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Bryan Little
Mathieu Perreault -- Andrew Copp -- Jack Roslovic
Nathan Beaulieu -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Dustin Byfuglien
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Eric Comrie
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Par Lindholm, Bogdan Kiselevich, Joe Morrow, Sami Niku, Matt Hendricks
Injured: Josh Morrissey (upper body), Laurent Brossoit (lower body)

Wild projected lineup

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

Status report

The Jets did not have a morning skate. … The Wild signed Sturm, a college free agent who led Clarkson in scoring with 45 points (14 goals, 31 assists) this season, to a one-year, entry-level contract Monday. … Minnesota reassigned forward Matt Read to Iowa of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Comrie is 2-2-0 with a 4.00 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in four NHL starts. … Lowry has three goals in his past three games. … Hayes has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games. … Minnesota is 4-0-0 against the Jets this season, outscoring them 13-7. … Dubnyk is 9-7-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in his past 17 starts.