Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Chicago

The essentials

Nursing some wounds after a 3-1 loss Friday at Dallas, the Wild returns to Xcel Energy Center for the first time since Jan. 19.
An old friend awaits.
Longtime nemesis Chicago, for its part, put together one of its best games of the season Friday night, waltzing into Buffalo and shuffling out with a 7-3 victory. But only one Western Conference team (Los Angeles) has fewer standings points than the once-mighty Blackhawks, providing the Wild an opportunity to not only get right after a long, All-Star-plus-bye-week layoff but to earn some valuable standings points against another Central Division opponent.
Minnesota currently sits in the West's first wild-card spot but is just three points clear of the playoff-position cutoff and now a point behind Dallas, which moved into the Central's third postseason slot Friday.
"It's so tight with the standings, and every game means so much," Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon said. "We're going to have to expect [more] from ourselves and be better."
The situation will remain fluid, but if Minnesota is to earn a seventh consecutive Stanley Cup Playoffs opportunity, chances to usurp divisional opponents can't go unfulfilled.

Minnesota was admittedly sloppy the first two periods Friday but
established some rhythm
in the third. Defenseman Brad Hunt scored his first goal in a Wild uniform, and goaltender Devan Dubnyk was stout (25 saves) in his first action since representing the Central at last weekend's All-Star Game in San Jose.
Saturday marks the fourth and final meeting between the Wild and Blackhawks this season. Minnesota opened the series with a 4-3 overtime win back on Oct. 11, but Chicago shot back with 3-1 and 5-2 victories Nov. 18 and Dec. 27, both at United Center.
All-time, the Wild is 42-28-1 against the gents from the Windy City. But Chicago tends to save its best for the biggest games in this rivalry, including playoff series victories in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Patrick Kane had two goals and two assists Friday to run his season point total to 75, ranking second in the NHL. The eight-time All-Star notched a hat trick two days after Christmas and now has 900 career points.
For the Wild, center Eric Fehr returned Friday from an undisclosed injury suffered Jan. 7, but teammate Pontus Aberg -- acquired from Anaheim Jan. 16 -- left the Stars contest with a lower-body injury. Boudreau didn't have any additional details Friday night.

Back home

Minnesota plays its first home game since Jan. 19 when it hosts Chicago on Saturday night. The game will be nationally televised on NBC (KARE 11) with Chris Cuthbert, Joe Micheletti and AJ Mleczko serving as announcers.
Mikael Granlund (5-16=21) and Ryan Suter (1-20=21) lead the Wild in scoring at home with 21 points each. Zach Parise is third with 19 points (8-11=19) while Eric Staal ranks fourth with 18 points (11-7=18).

Back-to-back

Saturday's contest completes Minnesota's ninth set of 15 back-to-backs this season. The Wild is 3-6-0 in the first night of back-to-backs and 5-3-0 in the second.

Series notes

All-Time Wild Record: 42-28-4 (23-12-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 19-16-2 at Chicago)
2018-19: Minnesota is 1-2-0 after three season meetings against Chicago … The Wild earned a 4-3 overtime victory in the first meeting at Xcel Energy Center (10/11), dropped the second meeting, 3-1, at United Center (11/18) and fell, 5-2, in the third meeting in Chicago (12/27) … C Eric Staal leads Minnesota with five points (2-3=5) … LW Zach Parise (2-2=4) and D Ryan Suter (1-3=4) own four points apiece … LW Jason Zucker (2-1=3) has three points … G Devan Dubnyk is 1-1-0 with a 4.15 GAA and a .850 SV% in two starts … G Alex Stalock is 0-1-0 with a 1.96 GAA and a .917 SV% in two games (one start) … RW Patrick Kane (3- 3=6) and C Jonathan Toews (1-5=6) lead Chicago with six points each … LW Alex DeBrincat has four points (2-2=4) … C Dominik Kahun (2-1=3) and LW Brandon Saad (3-0=3) have three points apiece … G Cam Ward made 42 saves in the first contest … G Corey Crawford stopped 39-of-40 shots in the second contest … G Collin Delia made 46 saves in the third contest to earn the win in his first career action against the Wild.
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Wild leaders: Suter owns 40 points (7-33=40) in 74 games against Chicago, his highest point total against any team … C Mikko Koivu has 37 points (7-30=37) in 55 matches … Staal owns 21 points (6-15=21) in 25 contests … RW Mikael Granlund owns 19 points (5-14=19) in 25 matches.
Wild goalies: Dubnyk is 14-9-0 with a 2.77 GAA, a .919 SV% and two shutouts in 26 games (25 starts) vs. the Blackhawks … Stalock is 1-2-0 with a 2.22 GAA and a .931 SV% in four games (three starts).
Blackhawks leaders: Toews owns 45 points (15-30=45) in 44 career games against Minnesota … Kane has 45 points (21- 24=45) in 48 contests … D Duncan Keith owns 23 points (5- 18=23) in 53 games … LW Chris Kunitz has 12 points (6-6=12) in 27 matches … D Brent Seabrook owns 12 points (4-8=12) in 56 contests.
Blackhawks goalies: Crawford is 13-9-2 with a 2.28 GAA, a .926 SV% and one shutout in 25 games (24 starts) vs. the Wild … Ward is 3-2-4 with a 3.35 GAA and a .896 SV% in 11 starts … Delia stopped 46-of-48 shots in his first career action against Minnesota (12/27/18).
Connections:Minnesota Head Coach Bruce Boudreau skated in seven games with Chicago during the 1985-86 season … Wild goaltending coach Bob Mason appeared in 41 games for the Blackhawks in 1987-88.

Did you know?

Minnesota's 42 all-time wins against Chicago are its third-most wins against any NHL opponent … The Wild is 12-6-1 in its last 19 games against the Blackhawks … Minnesota is 6-2-1 in the last nine games played at Xcel Energy Center … Minnesota is 18-12-2 in its last 32 games against Chicago with 15 of the contests being decided by one goal and five going to a shootout.