The Wild wrapped up its home schedule with a 3-0 loss on Thursday and will finish the year where it has been at its best all season, away from Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota is in search of its 22nd win on the road, which would tie the second-most wins away from home in franchise history (24 in 2014-15).
"We just keep playing simple, I think," said Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin. "At home, I think we've been trying to make an extra pass instead of shoot it. On the road, we've been playing more simple."
The Wild's 21 victories marks just the fourth time in team history the club has surpassed 20 road wins in a single campaign.
Most of the Wild's signature wins this season have come in hostile territory, including wins in Winnipeg, Calgary, Tampa, Washington and Vegas over the past six weeks. Like Dallas, all of those teams are postseason bound. On Saturday, the Wild will try and add another postseason contender down on its own ice surface, and maybe spoil Dallas' fun in the process.
"I told the team, 'You work your butt off all year, so what, you don't make it. You're not gonna go in and fold the tent now,'" said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "We're gonna play hard, that's what we're known to be, is a team that plays hard, whether we score or have success or not. But we're not gonna just sit there and throw in the towel, we're gonna play as hard as we can."
Minnesota was on the ice at American Airlines Center on Saturday morning. Here is what it looked like:
