wild gameday
7 P.M. VS. ANAHEIM • XCEL Energy Center • FSN, 100.3-FM
Preview: The Wild, 17-3-1 in its past 22 and 19-4-2 when Devan Dubnyk starts, will close a three-game homestand in front of the 500th regular-season sold-out home crowd in history before playing in St. Louis on Saturday. The Wild is 1-7-1 in its past nine against the Ducks. Minnesota hasn't beaten the Ducks at home since Feb. 18, 2011. The Ducks are on a three-game losing streak.
Players to watch: Wild RW Chris Stewart has goals in two straight. LW Thomas Vanek is coming off his 50th career multi-goal game. In the past 12 games, D Matt Dumba is plus-14, has four goals, 26 shots and has averaged 18 minutes, 43 seconds per game. Dubnyk will start his 26th straight game for Minnesota. He is 19-4-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .937 save percentage, allowing two goals or fewer goals in 19 games. The Ducks have three Wild killers: C Ryan Kesler has 24 goals and 32 points in 52 games, and RW Corey Perry and C Ryan Getzlaf each have 32 points in 34 games.
Numbers: The Wild's 1.64 goals allowed per game the past 25 games is an NHL best. In 25 games before that, the Wild gave up an NHL-worst 3.52 goals per game. … The Wild's power play is 2-for-28 the past 13 games. … The Wild is 30-6-3 when it scores first, scoring first in 16 of its past 21 games.
Injuries: Wild D Marco Scandella (oblique), LW Jason Zucker (collarbone), LW Ryan Carter (upper body), LW Matt Cooke (sports hernia) and D Keith Ballard (concussion) are out. Ducks D Sheldon Souray (wrist), D Sami Vatanen (leg) and RW Tim Jackman (leg) are out.
MICHAEL RUSSO
