The Wild matches up with the Flyers for the final time this season tonight at 7:00 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3. In the first meeting between these two teams back in October, the Flyers earned a 2-1 overtime victory. This marks the second consecutive game that Minnesota faces a team on the second night of a back-to-back as the Flyers come into tonight’s contest off a 4-1 win over Washington last night. In games against opponents on the second leg of a back-to-back, the Wild owns a 5-4-1 record, including Tuesday night’s shutout win over Utah.
Ahead of puck drop, the Wild will honor members of Team USA’s woman’s hockey team tonight as Gold Medalists Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Britta Curl-Salemme, Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Lee Stecklein and Grace Zumwinkle will take part in a ceremonial puck drop.
Having home ice advantage could be key for Minnesota tonight. Per Stats Perform, in 10 meetings between the Wild and Flyers dating back to the 2019-20 season, the home team has won eight of those contests. Minnesota is starting to find its grove in games played at Grand Casino Arena, as it is 6-1-1 in its last eight games, outscoring its opponents 30-18. Furthermore, the Wild has not allowed a power-play goal in its last six home games, going a perfect 16-16 on the penalty kill.
Jesper Wallstedt gets the nod tonight for the Wild. He comes into tonight’s game off a strong outing against Colorado on March 8, where he stopped 34-of-36 shots faced in a shootout loss to the Avalanche. For the season, Wallstedt owns a 14-6-5 record with a 2.81 GAA, a .911 SV% and four shutouts. He was the starter in the first game against the Flyers this season, stopping 19-of-21 shots faced in that overtime loss.
Jonas Brodin: The veteran Swede is set to play in his 900th career NHL tonight, joining Mikko Koivu and Jared Spurgeon as the only players to play 900-plus games in a Wild sweater. Brodin owns a plus-4 rating in the four games he has played since returning from injury on March 3 and has not been on the ice for an opposing goal in that span.
Vladimir Tarasenko: Tarasenko notched a game-high two assists to go along with a plus-3 rating on Tuesday vs. Utah and now owns 697 career points (320-377=697), he looks to become the 16th Russian-born player to reach the 700 point milestone. Tarasenko enters the game with 19 career points (8-11=19) in 23 games against Philadelphia.
