Wild to face Central Division-leading Stars and their strong special teams
The Wild have won seven of eight heading into the game at Xcel Energy Center.
December 28, 2022 at 11:11PM
Thursday, 7 p.m., Xcel Energy Center
TV: BSN Radio: 100.3-FM
Stars update: Dallas leads the Central Division and is six points ahead of the third-place Wild. ... The Stars rank fourth in the league with a +27 goal differential, sixth in power-play percentage (.268) and fourth in penalty-kill percentage (.829). ... LW Jason Robertson (24-27-51) is fourth in the NHL in goals and third in points. ... G Jake Oettinger has a 2.43 goals-against average. ... RW Dennis Gurianov (undisclosed) is out.
Wild update: They have won seven in a row at home. ... W Marcus Foligno (lower body), W Brandon Duhaime (upper body) and C Mason Shaw (second of a two-game suspension) are out. ... The Wild are 6-2 vs. Central opponents. ... W Mats Zuccarello has 19 points in December, fourth best in the NHL. ... Marc-Andre Fleury (2.85 GAA) starts in goal. ... C Freddy Gaudreau has five goals in the past seven games. ... The Wild have the fewest giveaways (6.12 per game) in the league.
The Wild have been the surprise of the league as their high-scoring winger makes a shambles of team scoring records.
