After a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win on Sunday afternoon spearheaded by Kirill Kaprizov's hat trick, the Wild will close out this brief homestand on Tuesday when they host the Islanders at Xcel Energy Center.
This is the second and final meeting of the regular season between these two teams: The Wild won the previous clash 3-1 on Jan. 12 at New York.
"Hard game, physical, tight checking, tight to get through," coach Dean Evason recalled of that win. "Obviously, they're fighting [for playoff positioning] and we're fighting. So, it'll be a real intense hockey game."
Filip Gustavsson will start in net for the Wild, the team's only lineup change from their 3-2 overtime rally against the Blue Jackets over the weekend.
Gustavsson is 4-0-2 in his last six starts, a span in which he's stopped 167 of 177 shots for a 1.60 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
The penalty kill has denied 26 straight power plays, which is the longest streak in the NHL this season and tied for the second-longest run in franchise history. Overall, the Wild's penalty kill ranks seventh in the NHL at 82.3%; at home, they're ninth (81.9%).
"We've not only been able to kill penalties [but] we've also been able to generate some scoring chances off it, as well," Evason said. "So, yeah, it gets our group excited, and I think it gets the fans excited, as well."
Projected lineup:
