Preview: The Wild ended a short road trip with an overtime loss in Ottawa and a 7-4 loss to low-scoring New Jersey on Thursday and now has to figure out how to win at Xcel Energy Center, where it has lost 11 of its past 13 games. Carolina has at least a point in six of its past seven (3-1-3).

Players to watch: Wild C Mikko Koivu's third-period goal Thursday was his first in five games. LW Nino Niederreiter has a goal in three consecutive games. G Devan Dubnyk was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots Thursday. He was replaced by Darcy Kuemper, who allowed four goals on 17 shots. Dubnyk will get the start. Carolina LW Jeff Skinner leads the team in goals (25) and points (44). G Cam Ward is 20-15-8 with a 2.44 GAA and a .907 save percentage.

Numbers: The Wild has killed off nine straight penalties over the past five games. After going 0-for-3 on the power play in an overtime loss in Ottawa, the Wild was 2-for-3 with the man advantage vs. New Jersey. Carolina is 0-for-8 on the power play in its past two games but has killed off 36 of its past 39 penalties. The Wild is 12-14-3 vs. Eastern Conference teams.

Injuries: Wild RW Jason Pominville (lower body) is out. Kuemper is day-to-day with an upper-body injury; the Wild recalled Stephen Michalek from Iowa for the game. Carolina C Andrej Nestrasil (fractured vertebra), D James Wisniewski (knee) and D Justin Faulk, who played for Minnesota Duluth in 2010-11, (lower body) are out.

Kent Youngblood