Preview: Wild at Capitals

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Minnesota Wild plays its first game of 2025, traveling to challenge the Eastern Conference leading Capitals. The Wild is coming hot off a New Year's Eve win against the Nashville Predators (5-3).

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Thursday, January 2 at 6:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Capital One Arena (Washington, D.C.)
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Capitals

Wild Record: 23-11-4, 50 points, 2nd in Central Division

Capitals Record: 25-10-2, 52 points, 1st in Metropolitan Division

2023-24 Series Record: 1-0-1

All-Time Wild Record: 15-13-3 (5-8-2 at Washington)

Last Season on Wild vs. Capitals

Minnesota went 1-0-1 in the season series.

Washington won the series-opening match-up, 3-2, in a shootout at Capital One Arena (10/27). Minnesota claimed a 5-3 win in the second meeting at Xcel Energy Center (1/23).

LW Marcus Foligno (1-2=3) and LW Marcus Johansson (2-1=3) led the Wild with three points each. C Joel Eriksson Ek (1-1=2), C Ryan Hartman (1-1=2) and C Marco Rossi (1-1=2) tallied two points each. G Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves in the second meeting. G Marc-André Fleury made 31 saves in the first contest.

C Evgeny Kuznetsov (0-2=2) and RW Anthony Mantha (2-0=2) led the Capitals with two points each. RW T.J. Oshie, C Dylan Strome and RW Tom Wilson each scored a goal. G Darcy Kuemper went 1-1-0 with a 3.39 GAA and a .901 SV% in two starts.

Wild Leaders Against Capitals

• Foligno (4-8=12 in 25 games) and RW Mats Zuccarello (3-9=12 in 30 games) lead Minnesota in scoring against Washington with 12 points each
• D Zach Bogosian (3-8=11 in 35 games) and Johansson (4-7=11 in 12 contests) own 11 points each

Caps Leaders Against Wild

• LW Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 37 points (19- 18=37) in 23 career games against Minnesota
• Oshie has 24 points (12- 12=24) in 35 contests
• D Jakob Chychrun owns 14 points (10-4=14) in 25 games
• Strome has 12 points (4-8=12) in 13 games

To view recent transactions, visit wild.com/transactions.

Connections

• Wild LW Marcus 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)
• LW Brandon 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)
• Oshie played high school hockey in Warroad
• Lindgren is from Lakeville and played three seasons at St. Cloud State University (2013-16)

Fast Facts

• Minnesota is 5-0-1 in the last six meetings
• Minnesota’s series sweep in 2022-23 marked the third time in franchise history the Wild has won two games against Washington in the same season (2002-03, 2021-22)
• Eight of Minnesota’s 15 games played at Washington have been decided by one goal (3-3-2)
• 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.