6 p.m. vs. Philadelphia • Xcel Energy Center •FSN, 100.3-FM
Gameday preview: Wild vs. Philadelphia
December 14, 2019 at 2:57AM
Wild nearing history
Preview: The Wild is on an 8-0-3 streak at home, second in team history to a 10-0-3 run in 2017-18. The Flyers are 16-7-1 against Minnesota, including 6-4-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Last season, Philadelphia won both meetings, 7-4 at home and 5-4 in Minnesota. The Flyers (17-9-5 for 39 points) entered Friday's play in the final wild-card playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Players to watch: C Eric Staal (nine goals, 14 assists, 23 points) and F Jason Zucker (12-11-23) share the Wild's scoring lead. G Alex Stalock is 2-0 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .881 save percentage in four games against Philadelphia. … Sean Couturier (8-15-23), Claude Giroux (10-12-22) and Jakub Voracek (6-16-22) are the highest-scoring healthy Flyers.
Numbers: The Wild is 9-1-4 in its past 15 games, and its 27 points secured since Nov. 2 is tied for the second most in the NHL. … Voracek has 19 points in 23 games against the Wild.
Injuries: For the Wild, C Mikko Koivu (lower body), D Jared Spurgeon (hand), G Devan Dubnyk (family medical issue) and Greg Pateryn (core muscle) are out. … F's Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny share the Flyers' goal-scoring lead with 11, but Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, and will miss the rest of the season, while Konecny (concussion) is out indefinitely. D Philippe Myers (back spasms) is expected to play.
Randy Johnson
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For the Wild, four points behind the league-leading Jets, this will be their most anticipated matchup against a division rival since they lost 2-1 to the Stars on Nov. 16.
