Game Preview: Wild at Capitals

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Minnesota Wild heads to Washington tonight for the first leg of the team's second back-to-back this season, hoping to defeat the Capitals after falling to the Stars 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Friday, October 17th at 6:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Capital One Arena (Washington, District of Columbia)
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KOOL 108
• Gamecenter: Wild at Caps

Wild Record: 2-2-0

Capitals Record: 3-1-0

2024-25 Series Record: 2-0-0

All-Time Wild Record: 17-13-3 (6-8-2 at Washington)

Last Time Out

Last Season on Wild vs. Capitals

Minnesota went 2-0-0 against Washington. The Wild won the series-opening game, 4-3, in a shootout at Capital One Arena (1/2) and completed the season sweep with a 4-2 win in Saint Paul (3/27).

LW Matt Boldy (1-1=2), C Freddy Gaudreau (2-0=2), C Ryan Hartman (1-1=2) and C Marco Rossi (1- 1=2) all had two points. G Marc-André Fleury saved 28-of-31 shots faced to earn the win for the Wild in the first meeting. G Filip Gustavsson stopped 28- of-30 shots faced in the second meeting.

D Martin Fehervary (1-0=1), LW Alex Ovechkin (1-0=1), RW Tom Wilson (1-0=1), LW Brandon Duhaime (1- 0=1) and D Matt Roy (1-0=1) all scored for the Capitals. G Charlie Lindgren went 0-1-1 with a 2.94 GAA and a .887 SV% in two starts.

Wild Leaders Against Caps

• D Zach Bogosian (3-9=12 in 36 games), LW Marcus Foligno (4-8=12 in 26 games) and RW Mats Zuccarello (3-9=12 in 31 games) each own 12 career points each against Washington
• LW Marcus Johansson has 11 points (4-7=11) in 13 contests

Capitals Leaders Against Wild

• Ovechkin leads Washington with 38 points (20-18=38) in 24 career games against Minnesota
• D Jakob Chychrun owns 14 points (10- 4=14) in 26 games
• C Dylan Strome has 13 points (4-9=13) in 14 games

Connections

• Johansson was selected by Washington in the first round (24th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft and collected 324 points (118-206=324) in 579 games in parts of nine seasons with the Capitals (2010-17, 2021-23)
• C Nic Dowd played four seasons at St. Cloud State University (2010-14)
• Duhaime was selected by Minnesota in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft and recorded 40 points (20-20=40) in 211 games with the Wild (2021-24)
• Lindgren is from Lakeville and played three seasons at St. Cloud State University (2013-16)
• D Declan Chisholm collected 20 points (5-15=20) in 95 games in two seasons (2023-25) with Minnesota

Fast Facts

• Minnesota is 7-0-1 in the last eight meetings (since 1/8/22) and 8-1-1 in the last nine meetings (since 3/22/19)
• Minnesota’s series sweep in 2024-25 marked the fourth time in franchise history the Wild has won two games against Washington in the same season (also 2002-03, 2021-22, 2022- 23)
• Nine of Minnesota’s 16 games played at Washington have been decided by one goal (4-3-2)
• Ovechkin netted three PPG on March 28, 2017, the most ever by a Wild opponent

For more information on today's matchup, check out the game notes below.