WINNIPEG -- For the first time since last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Wild will play a game that counts at Bell MTS Place when it faces the Winnipeg Jets in a matinee affair on Saturday.
The game begins shortly after 3 p.m.
Minnesota enters badly needing a win following a 5-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at the United Center, a defeat which was the Wild's fourth-straight loss (0-3-1).
While Winnipeg is one of the League's best teams, the playoff history and the simmering rivalry between the clubs should give the Wild plenty of motivation to get back on the winning track on Saturday.
The teams met just once this season, back on Black Friday at Xcel Energy Center, a contest the Wild won 4-2. In that game, both Nick Seeler and Marcus Foligno ended up on the Jets bench during a slight ... shall we call it ... disagreement during the third period.
Minnesota and Winnipeg were tied 2-2 at that point, and the Wild would score two goals over the final 5 1/2 minutes of regulation to close out a four-goal third period in perhaps its most memorable win of the season so far.
If anything, that third period -- and the scuffle that entailed -- provided the Wild with a nice blue print in how it can weather its current storm during a long season.
"We gotta stick with it and stick together. As difficult as it's been here for the last little bit, it's no use pointing fingers at each other," Wild forward Eric Staal said on Thursday. "We've gotta come together and focus on one game, and that's Winnipeg and trying to get some points out of their building. It's a tough place to play, but you gotta respond and rebound and do the job next game."
Winnipeg will enter the contest surly following a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. Like the Wild, the Jets also had a four-day layoff for Christmas. After winning seven of its final eight games before the layoff, Winnipeg was unable to find that magic on home ice in its first game back.
"When they lose a game coming out of the break,I'm sure they're going to be mad as hornets," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "They're gonna come in and try and wipe us off the map."
The Jets have a pair of forwards approaching 50 points on the season, as linemates Mark Scheifele (49) and Blake Wheeler (48) lead the club offensively. Wheeler's 43 assists entering play on Friday is third-most in the NHL, behind just Mikko Rantanen and Nikita Kucherov, who each have 44 helpers.
Scheifele's 22 goals are ninth-most in the League, but second-most on his club behind Patrik Laine's 23 goals.
Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, hasn't had the same kind of luck in 2018-19 but still has a 16-10-1 record to go with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
