Morning Skate Wrap Up: Wild vs. Stars

The Wild will honor captain Jared Spurgeon today for his 1,000 NHL games ahead of its matchup against the Dallas Stars at 3:00 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3. This is a pivotal Central Division matchup as Minnesota (90 points) trails Dallas (96 points) for the second spot in the division. Dallas is also still clawing for the top spot in the Central Division as they only trail Colorado, who sit atop the league with 100 points.

This marks the third of four times Minnesota and Dallas will face each other this season, which each team winning a game. Dallas won the series opening contest on October 14, 5-2, while Minnesota earned its own 5-2 victory on December 11. Minnesota, who is looking to earn a win at home after dropping its last three, will have to do so without two of its key players. Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, who are both dealing with lower-body injuries, will be out again today against Dallas. 

Filip Gustavsson will get the start for Minnesota today. In 10 starts dating back to January 29, Gustavsson owns an 8-2-0 record with a 2.19 GAA, a .920 SV% and one shutout—he is 4-2-0 at home during that stretch. In 10 career starts against Dallas, Gustavsson owns a 6-4-0 record with a 2.01 GAA and a .934 SV%. 

Jake Oettinger is the expected starter for Dallas today. The Lakeville native comes into today’s game with a 29-10-5 record on the season with a 2.58 GAA, a .902 SV% and two shutouts. Oettinger has earned a point in 13 consecutive starts, going 12-0-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a .903 SV%. Minnesota was able to get to Oettinger in that December 11 matchup, as his five goals allowed is his second-highest total of the season (six vs. Anaheim on November 6).

While it’s a small sample size over the first two games, Dallas is three-for-three in power-play opportunities while Minnesota is two-for-seven. However, since February 26, Minnesota has only allowed three power-play goals on 32 opportunities (90.6 PK%)—maintaining that consistency in today’s game will be a key factor for Minnesota to pull out a win.

Players to Watch:

Matt Boldy: Going back to the well here. Without Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov, the Wild will be leaning on Boldy to have a big game. He’s been held off the score sheet the last three games but had scored in three consecutive games prior to that. The winger owns 14 points (4-10=14) in 15 career games against Dallas, including a three-point (1-2=3) outing in December.

Quinn Hughes: Keeping it straight forward today as the Wild will be leaning on its big guns. Like Boldy, Hughes has also gone scoreless in his last three games. Today marks the first time Hughes will face Dallas wearing a Wild sweater. In his 16 career games against the Stars, the blueliner owns 14 points (1-13=14) and has recorded a point (1-5=6) in four of his last six games.