It’s a Foligno Face-Off night in St. Paul as the Wild hosts the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at 7:00 p.m. on FanDuel Sports North and KFAN FM 100.3. This marks the second of four matchups between the Wild and Blackhawks, with the Wild claiming a 4-3 overtime victory back on Nov. 26 in Chicago. In part of the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, Marcus and Nick Foligno have teamed up to form the #FolignoFaceoff, to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research in honor of their mother, Janice Foligno, who passed away from breast cancer 16 years ago. To date, the Foligno Face-Off has raised over $45,000. Fans can join Team Marcus or Team Nick and donate here.
As for the game itself, the Wild comes into tonight’s contest with a point in its last 17 games against Chicago (16-0-1) and is 10-0-1 in its last 11 games played at Grand Casino Arena. In the first meeting between these two teams, Matt Boldy (1-2=3), Brock Faber, Nico Sturm and Kirill Kaprizov (overtime GWG) all registered a goal, while Filip Gustavsson stopped 34-of-37 shots faced. Connor Bedard, who owns six points (2-4=6) in seven career games against Minnesota, led the Blackhawks with two points (1-1=2).
Jesper Wallstedt will get the start for Minnesota tonight. He has only faced Chicago one time in his career—it was his first career NHL win in shutout fashion on Apr. 7, 2024. Wallstedt owns a 6-3-1 record in his 10 starts at home this season with a 3.11 GAA, a .907 SV% and two shutouts. Spencer Knight gets the nod for Chicago, who comes into tonight’s game with a 2.58 GAA, a .911 SV% and three shutouts on the season. In two career starts against Minnesota, Knight is 1-1-0 with a 2.44 GAA and a .891 SV%.
Players to watch:
Kirill Kaprizov: The reigning NHL First Star of the Week comes into tonight’s game with multiple points (3-9=12) in five consecutive games. In 14 career games against Chicago, Kaprizov owns 17 points (7-10=17), a plus-9 rating, three power-play goals and three game-winning goals.
Quinn Hughes: Like Kaprizov, Hughes also comes into tonight’s game with a point (1-8=9) in five straight games—including three multiple point efforts. In his 17 games against Chicago, Hughes has collected 13 points (3-10=13) and a plus-7 rating.
Matt Boldy: In 16 career games against the Blackhawks, Boldy owns 16 points (6-10=16) and a plus-6 rating. In his first game back from Injured Reserve on Saturday night against Florida, Boldy registered two points (1-1=2) and now sits at 297 points (130-167=297) for his NHL career.
