11:30 a.m. at Detroit • Joe Louis Arena • Ch. 11, 100.3-FM
Wild-Detroit preview
March 25, 2017 at 11:20PM
Wild makes final visit to the Joe
Preview: This will be the Wild's last visit ever to the Joe as the Red Wings, who will miss the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, open a new arena next season. The stumbling Wild has lost nine of 11 and is 3-10 in March. The Red Wings are 3-1-1 in their past five after opening the month with six losses in seven games. The Wild is 4-4-1 in its past nine in Detroit.
Players to watch: G Devan Dubnyk, who had his first game off since Feb. 16 in Saturday's loss to Vancouver, is expected to start. He's looking for a franchise-record 38th win. LW Nino Niederreiter has one goal in the past 19 games and none since Feb. 27. LW Jason Zucker has one goal in the past 12 games. C Mikko Koivu has two goals in the past 23 games. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg owns 40 points in 41 games against Minnesota.
Numbers: The Wild is 6-4-2 in the second of back-to-backs. … Before Saturday's loss, the Wild ranked 26th in the NHL with 2.25 goals per game and 27th with an .893 save percentage in March.
Injuries: Red Wings C Joe Vitale (concussion), D Jonathan Ericsson and D Ryan Sproul (knee) are out. C Darren Helm (lower body) is questionable.
MICHAEL RUSSO
about the writer
On the day he turned 35, the Wild captain notched his first two goals of the season.
