Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Boston

The essentials

The opponent

The Boston Bruins are playing the rubber match of a three-game homestand, having so far won once and lost once over the past few days. The Bruins scored a 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights last Thursday before falling behind early and losing 3-2 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
The Bruins and Wild are each tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for fewest number of games played so far this season (12).
Offensively, the Bruins are led by offensively by Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, who each have eight goals on the year. Marchand's 14 points are one more than Pastrnak, the only two Bruins in double digits.
Goaltender Tuukka Rask is 2-4-2 in eight starts this season, posting a 2.70 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
Spring Lake Park's David Backes, a former Minnesota State Maverick, was placed on injured reserve on Thursday following surgery to remove part of his colon, a procedure that will help Backes manage his diverticulitis. He is expected to miss the next eight weeks of action.

Connections

• Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin was selected by Minnesota in the seventh round (206th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and went 4-1-0 with a 1.39 GAA, a .955 SV% and one shutout in six games with the Wild. He made his NHL debut with Minnesota on Feb. 4, 2010.

Going low

The Wild has posted two straight shutout wins against the Bruins: a 5-0 victory in Boston on Oct. 25 last season and a 1-0 win in Saint Paul on Nov. 17, 2016. In 20 all-time meetings between the Wild and Bruins, Minnesota has allowed one goal or less in half the games: five shutout victories and five victories allowing one goal. The Wild has never been shut out by Boston and has scored at least two goals in 16 of 20 all-time meetings.