Wild gameday
7 p.m. VS. Tampa Bay • Xcel Energy Wenter• FSN, 100.3-FM
Preview: The Wild, coming off its first home loss in six games this season, plays the second game in a three-game homestand. Zach Parise will miss at least the next two games because of a knee injury. The Wild is 9-12-1 in the Parise era without him. The Lightning has scored one or fewer goals in five of the past seven games (2-4-1). The Wild is 11-5-2 all-time vs. the Lightning, 7-2 in Minnesota.
Players to watch: G Devan Dubnyk will try to avoid his first consecutive regulation losses with the Wild. LW Jason Zucker has a career-high seven-game point streak. C Mikko Koivu has at least a point in nine of his past 10 games. C Mikael Granlund and F Jason Pominville have one point and no even-strength points in the past nine games. Pominville has no goals in 12 games. Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov has points in four consecutive games. D Victor Hedman leads the Lightning in points with 11, C Steven Stamkos leads in goals with seven. G Ben Bishop has four consecutive losses despite a 1.77 goals-against average during that span.
Numbers: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Minnesota ranks eight among all NHL teams in both total points by defensemen (7-20-27) and percentage of team points by defensemen (27.6 percent).
Injuries: Wild LW Zach Parise (knee), D Nate Prosser (back), C Tyler Graovac (sports hernia) and RW Justin Fontaine (sprained MCL) are out. Lightning LW Jonathan Drouin (lower body) is questionable. Lightning D Mattias Ohlund (knee) is out).
MICHAEL RUSSO
