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SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild hits the ice in Saint Paul tonight. The team is celebrating 2000s Night tonight, featuring in-game elements and a ticket pack that includes an opportunity to meet Kate Flannery, a.k.a. Meredith in the hit show The Office.

The Wild welcomes the Utah Hockey Club tonight, after finally finding a rhythm on Monday against Colorado, a game which the Wild won 3-1. Prior to the win against the Avs, the Wild had lost four of its last five games. With Captain D Jared Spurgeon and LW Kirill Kaprizov rumored to be returning to the lineup any day, The Wild can only hope to regain the fantastic chemistry the team saw at the start of the season.

[Updated at 9:00 a.m. CT] The Minnesota Wild has activated both D Jared Spurgeon and LW Kirill Kaprizov from LTIR.

Info for Tonight's Game:

Wild Record: 28-15-4, 60 points, 2nd in Central Division

Utah Record: 20-19-7, 47 points, 6th in Central Division

2024-25 Series Record: 1-1-0

All-Time Wild Record: 1-1-0 (0-1-0 at Xcel Energy Center)

Stats Comparison

Team Stats
UTA
MIN
Power Play
21.7%
19.0%
Penalty Kill
81.5%
71.6%
Faceoff
51.4%
48.2%
Goals For / Games Played
2.87
2.94
Goals Against / Games Played
2.98
2.81

Last Time Out

The Wild triumphed over Colorado on Monday. D Jake Middleton opened the scoring in the first period, assisted by LW Liam Öhgren and C Freddy Gaudreau. C Nathan MacKinnon responded in the second period and scored the lone Colorado goal. The Wild found the back of the net twice in the third period, the first scored by C Yakov Trenin, assisted by D David Jiricek and Öhgren, and the second goal scored by D Brock Faber, assisted by RW Ryan Hartman and Middleton. G Marc-André Fleury stopped 26-of-27 shots on goal.

Utah Hockey Club defeated the Winnipeg Jets on Monday 5-2. D Olli Maatta netted the first goal, his first since Utah acquired him from Detroit in October. C Barrett Hayton scored the next goal for Utah, followed by a slapshot goal from LW Matias Maccelli to bring the game to 4-0. The Jets finally woke up near the midway point of the third period and answered Utah's goals with two of their own. Those two goals were in vain however, as C Clayton Keller scored the final goal, an empty-netter, to seal the Jets' fate.

MIN at COL | Recap

This Season on Wild vs. Hockey Club

The Wild won the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, 5-4, in a shootout in Salt Lake City (12/10), Utah’s first shootout in franchise history. The Wild lost the second game, 2-1, to St. Paul (12/20).

LW Marcus Johansson leads Minnesota with three points (1-2=3). Kaprizov (1-1=2) and C Marco Rossi (1-1=2) each own two points. G Filip Gustavsson stopped 21-of-25 shots faced to earn the win for Minnesota in the first contest. Fleury stopped 16-of-18 shots faced for the Wild in the second game.

RW Dylan Guenther (2-2=4) leads Utah with four points against the Wild this season. Keller (2-1=3) and D Mikhail Sergachev (0-3=3) each own three points. G Karel Vejmelka is 1-0-1 with a 2.41 and a .925 SV% while starting both games for Utah.

Utah Leaders Against Wild

  • Keller leads Utah in scoring against Minnesota with 23 points (12-11=23) in 29 career games
  • Schmaltz owns 18 points (3-15=18) in 32 matches
  • Sergachev has 10 points (1-9=10) in 12 games
  • LW Lawson Crouse (5-4=9 in 29 games) and C Jack McBain (2-7=9 in 11 games) each have nine points

Recent Transactions

1/22/25

Reassigned F Brendan Gaunce to Iowa

1/19/25

Reassigned G Dylan Ferguson to Iowa

1/18/25

Recalled G Dylan Ferguson from Iowa under emergency conditions

Placed D Jonas Brodin on Injured Reserve

Converted D David Jiricek’s emergency recall to a regular recall

1/17/25

Recalled F Devin Shore from Iowa

1/16/25

Activated F Jakub Lauko from Injured Reserve

Reassigned F Ben Jones and F Devin Shore to Iowa

Recalled F Brendan Gaunce and F Liam Ohgren from Iowa

Placed F Kirill Kaprizov on Long-Term Injured Reserve

Placed F Marcus Johansson on Injured Reserve

1/9/25

Recalled F Devin Shore from Iowa

1/8/25

Reassigned F Devin Shore to Iowa and recalled D David Jiricek from Iowa

Placed F Jakub Lauko on Long-Term Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 14

1/7/25

Signed G Dylan Ferguson to a one-year, two-way contract

Activated D Jake Middleton from Long-Term Injured Reserv

Reassigned F Travis Boyd, F Brendan Gaunce and D Carson Lambos to Iowa

1/6/25

Recalled F Travis Boyd (emergency), F Brendan Gaunce (emergency) and D Carson Lambos (regular) from Iowa

1/1/25

Recalled F Brendan Gaunce and D Carson Lambos from Iowa

Placed F Kirill Kaprizov on Injured Reserve 

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

On the Mend

Jonas Brodin: lower-body injury (six games missed)

Marcus Johansson: concussion (two game missed)

Kirill Kaprizov: lower-body injury (12 games missed)

Jared Spurgeon: lower-body injury (nine games missed)

Connections

  • C Nick Bjugstad is a Minneapolis native and played three seasons at the University of Minnesota (2010-13). He tallied 30 points (13-17=30) in 101 games in two seasons with the Wild (2020-22)
  • D Ian Cole collected eight points (1-7=8) in 52 games with the Wild in 2020-21
  • C Logan Cooley played one season at the University of Minnesota (2022-23)
  • McBain was selected by the Wild in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft

Fast Facts

  • Iowa Wild Goaltending Coach Richard Bachman (Salt Lake City) is the only Utah-native to appear in a NHL game as a goaltender

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