First-place Wild returns home to take on Sharks

After ascending to the top spot in the Central Division last week during a 2-1 road trip, the Wild remains in first place Tuesday as it kicks off a two-game homestand against the Sharks.

This is the team's sixth home game. The Wild is 4-1 so far at Xcel Energy Center.

"The atmosphere in our building has been outstanding this year and pushed us into some big wins, some big comeback wins," defenseman Matt Dumba said. "To play out in front of them, we're all very appreciative of it. We're not taking this time at home for granted."

The Wild is sticking with the same lineup that prevailed 4-2 at Seattle on Saturday.

That means goalie Cam Talbot will be back between the pipes, and Ryan Hartman is still centering wingers Rem Pitlick and Jordan Greenway. Last game, Hartman set up Pitlick for the first three goals of his NHL career.

In eight games last season vs. San Jose, Hartman racked up seven assists.

Overall, the Wild went 5-2-1 against the Sharks. Both teams played out of the West Division in the 56-game shortened season earlier this year.

Now, the Sharks are back in the Pacific Division. They're 7-6-1, with four of those victories coming on the road.

"It's going to be a challenge for us," Evason said. "We know this team very well from playing them a lot last year, a lot of challenges in all three zones. So real good test for us."

Projected lineup:

Marcus Foligno-Joel Eriksson Ek-Kevin Fiala

Kirill Kaprizov-Frederick Gaudreau-Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway-Ryan Hartman-Rem Pitlick

Brandon Duhaime-Nico Sturm-Nick Bjugstad

Alex Goligoski-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill-Dmitry Kulikov

Cam Talbot

Key numbers:

5: Goals for the Wild in four of the past six games.

6: Points by captain Jared Spurgeon in his last six games.

8: Wins for Talbot, which is tied for the third most in the NHL.

9: Points for center Ryan Hartman over the last eight games.

13-5-1: Record for the Wild in its last 19 games vs. the Sharks at Xcel Energy Center.

About the Sharks:

This is the fourth stop of a five-game road trip for San Jose. So far, the Sharks are 1-2 and coming off a 6-2 loss at Colorado on Saturday. Overall, they're 4-4 on the road. Captain Logan Couture has two goals over his last three games. Defenseman Brent Burns has eight points in six games this month.