wild/nhl

7 P.M. VS. CALGARY • XCEL • FSN, 830 AM

Preview: This will be the last time in the regular season the Wild has to face goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who set a franchise record for shutouts on Tuesday (21). Calgary has won two consecutive road games for just the second time this season, but the Flames have yet to win three in a row on the road this season. With 98 points the Wild remains a point behind Vancouver in the Northwest Division.

Players to watch: Kiprusoff is 12-4-3 vs. the Wild all-time, with a .941 save percentage and a 1.60 goals-against average. Two of his seven shutouts this season have come against Minnesota. But after Tuesday's game Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom took over the league lead in both goals-against (2.05) and save percentage (.927). Wild wing Pavol Demitra has 32 points in 24 games vs. Calgary. Kiprusoff has a 1.39 goals-against average vs. the Wild this season and Backstrom has a 1.37 GAA vs. Calgary.

Numbers: The Wild is 3-2-2 vs. Calgary this season, 2-0-1 at Xcel Energy Center. If the Wild wins tonight it would have a winning record against every team in the Northwest Division.

Injuries: Wild D Petteri Nummelin (groin) began practicing with the team Wednesday, but he is out, as is G Manny Fernandez (knee). Both D Kim Johnsson and Backstrom were given the day off from practice but are OK. Flames LW David Moss (lower body), RW Darren McCarty (hip) and D Robyn Regehr (concussion) are out. D Andrei Zyuzin (undisclosed) is day-to-day.