Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Anaheim

The essentials

The opponent

In the midst of a four-game road trip, the Anaheim Ducks scored three unanswered goals in a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday at the United Center.
Ondrej Kase scored one goal and had two assists, as Anaheim erased a two-goal deficit midway through the second period. Nick Ritchie and Kase scored goals less than three minutes apart to tie the game into the second intermission before Adam Henrique tallied the winner 8:34 into the third period.
The game Saturday is the second meeting of the season between the clubs. Minnesota won the first contest 3-2 on an overtime goal by defenseman Matt Dumba on Dec. 8. Jason Zucker and Zack Mitchell also had goals for the Wild, which got 26 saves from Devan Dubnyk.
Rickard Rakell leads the Ducks with 46 points and 22 goals. Adam Henrique has 14 goals and 22 points in 34 games since being acquired from the New Jersey Devils in a trade in November.
Goaltender John Gibson is 20-15-6 in 44 starts this season, posting a 2.57 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage

Connections

• Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau served as the Ducks head coach in parts of five seasons (2011-16), compiling a record of 208-104-40 (.647), including four straight Pacific Division titles (2012-16).
• Wild assistant coach Bob Woods served as an assistant on Boudreau's staff with Anaheim for two seasons (2012-14).
• Wild forward Matt Cullen was selected by Anaheim in the second round (35th overall) of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 427 games with the Ducks, registering 200 points (65-135=200) in six seasons (1997-03).
• Wild forward Chris Stewart skated in 56 games with Anaheim, totaling 20 points (8-12=20) and 73 penalty minutes (2015-16).
• Wild forward Daniel Winnik played two seasons with the Ducks, collecting 49 points (12-37=49) in 124 contests (2012-14).
• Ducks forward J.T. Brown is from Burnsville and played two seasons at the University of Minnesota Duluth (2010-12).

Staal stats

Eric Staal posted a power-play goal on Thursday to stretch his point streak to a season-best five games (4-2=6) -- his longest since a six-game point streak (3-3=6) last season (March 21-30).
Staal is two points shy of reaching 900 for his NHL career.
Related:
- First of many 'biggest games' looms Saturday - Watch: Important stretch begins for Wild