wild gameday

7 P.M. VS. los angeles • XCEL • NBCSN, 100.3-FM

Preview: The Wild opens the 2013-14 season against the Stanley Cup winners of two years ago. The Wild has never lost a home opener, going 11-0-1, with the tie coming in its first home game against Philadelphia in 2000. The team plays four of its first five games at home.

Players to watch: LW Nino Niederreiter, LW Matt Cooke and D Keith Ballard are slated to make their Wild debuts and LW Justin Fontaine his NHL debut. RW Dany Heatley will play his first game since sustaining a shoulder injury April 3. G Niklas Backstrom will start in goal. He is 8-6-3 all-time vs. L.A. with a 2.45 goals-against average in 19 games. … G Jonathan Quick will start for the Kings. He is 7-3-2 all-time vs. the Wild but with an .892 save percentage. Captain Dustin Brown, coming off a knee injury and an early-training camp hamstring injury, will play the Wild for the first time since concussing RW Jason Pominville on April 23. C Anze Kopitar has scored 24 points in 27 games vs. Minnesota.

Numbers: The Wild is 7-4-1 all-time in season openers. … The Wild is 11-7-6 all-time vs. the Kings at home. … C Mikko Koivu has scored 119 goals, tied for second in franchise history with Andrew Brunette — 100 behind Marian Gaborik.

Injuries: Wild LW Mike Rupp (knee) is out.

MICHAEL RUSSO