1:57A Tuesday night date with the Kings in Los Angeles isn't just the start of 10 games in 19 days – a busy stretch leading up to the Christmas break.
It's also the beginning of a challenging three-game road trip through California.
"Three great teams," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "So you're going into a hornet's nest every night."
After playing the Kings, the Wild isn't back in action until Friday when it visits the Ducks before wrapping up its California road swing Sunday in San Jose against the Sharks – a trip that can be tough to salvage if it starts poorly.
Just ask former Ducks bench boss Boudreau.
"It's a different time change, and there's a lot of things going on," Boudreau said. "So it makes for a tough trip. We used to in Anaheim salivate when we looked at another team's schedule and seeing where they were coming from, how many games they play, when they were coming into our building. And I knew L.A. used to do the same thing. A lot of times, once you got going on the down slide there, it's not hard to lose three."
Projected lineup:
Mikael Granlund -Mikko Koivu-Jason Zucker
