Preview: This will be the Wild's 600th sellout, including preseason and postseason agames. The Flames are eliminated from postseason contention and the Wild is locked into eighth in the West. All eyes will be on Dallas and St. Louis to determine the Wild's first-round opponent. The Wild, which has an eight-game point streak against Calgary (7-0-1), will be looking to avoid ending the season on a five-game losing streak.
Gameday preview: Calgary at Wild
April 9, 2016 at 2:26AM
Players to watch: This could be Calgary G Niklas Backstrom's final NHL game. The 38-year-old all-time winningest goalie in Wild history gets the start. He is 1-2 with the Flames with a 4.16 goals-against average and an .836 save percentage. The Wild scored six goals on him on 29 shots during a rout March 24. LW Johnny Gaudreau ranks sixth in the NHL with 78 points and is tied for 15th with 30 goals. C/RW Charlie Coyle is expected to tie Kyle Brodziak and Jason Pominville for the second-longest Ironman streak in Wild history (231 games). Gs Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper are expected to split the game.
Numbers: The Wild is 6-5-3 all-time in regular-season finales, 4-4-1 at home.
Injuries: Wild wingers Thomas Vanek (upper body) and Zach Parise (upper body) are out. Flames G Karri Ramo (knee), D Ladislav Smid (upper body), D Dennis Wideman (triceps), RW/LW Michael Frolik and LW Lance Bouma (oblique) are out.
Michael Russo
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The Wild are off to one of the best starts in franchise history, and Kirill Kaprizov is tied for the NHL scoring lead.
