wild gameday
1 P.M. VS. DETROIT • XCEL ENERGY CENTER • FSN, 100.3-FM
Preview: The Wild, 7-2-5 in its past 14, has points in six of its past seven games, but four of those were overtime or shootout losses. The Wild is 7-0-3 in its past 10 at home since Jan. 14 and this is one of onlt two home games in the next 20 days. The Red Wings, ninth in the East, have won three of four, including a win over Pittsburgh on Thursday when veteran Daniel Alfredsson scored with 0.4 seconds left in overtime.
Players to watch: Wild G Darcy Kuemper will start. Since Jan. 7, Kuemper is 12-4-4 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. The Zach Parise-Mikael Granlund-Jason Pominville line has combined for 16 goals and 42 points in the past 15 games. Pominville is riding a seven-game point streak. Red Wings RW Todd Bertuzzi has 34 points in 50 games against Minnesota. G Jimmy Howard is 9-3-2 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .909 save percentage against the Wild.
Numbers: The Wild is 4-2-1 against Detroit over the past two seasons and has earned a point in nine of the past 10 meetings at home (4-1-5). … The Wild plays in Detroit on Sunday night. The Wild is 3-7 in the front end of back-to-backs.
Injuries: Wild F Jason Zucker (quad) is out. D Keith Ballard (groin) is questionable. Red Wings C Stephen Weiss (sports hernia), LW Henrik Zetterberg (back), C Pavel Datsyuk (knee), F Dan Cleary (knee), F Darren Helm (head), RW Tomas Jurco (ribs), F Justin Abdelkader (leg), F Joakim Andersson (foot) and D Jonathan Ericsson (finger) are out.
MICHAEL RUSSO
