Wild's lineup features three new faces as regular season begins tonight vs. Rangers

No more exhibition tune-ups.

Now the games count.

After a successful 6-1 preseason, the Wild kicks off the regular season on Thursday against the Rangers at Xcel Energy Center.

Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on BSN.

"It's going to be a fun game," winger Tyson Jost said. "It's going to be exciting for the crowd. I know we're pumped to be back in front of our home crowd. It's always electric here at the X. Minny fans are the best.

"It's going to be a good test for us, and we want to start off on the right foot."

The Wild will have three new faces in action: forwards Marco Rossi and Sam Steel and defenseman Calen Addison.

Rossi had his NHL debut last season and ended up appearing in two games total before returning to Iowa in the American Hockey League. As for Addison, he's skated in 18 games over the past two seasons.

He'll fill out the third defensive pairing next to Jake Middleton, and Rossi will center the fourth line alongside Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime.

"It feels completely different," Rossi said. "First, I'm really excited for tonight, but I have more confidence than last year. I had a really good camp, so I just try to continue from there."

Projected lineup:

Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello

Frederick Gaudreau-Sam Steel-Matt Boldy

Connor Dewar-Marco Rossi-Brandon Duhaime

Alex Goligoski-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jake Middleton-Calen Addison

Key numbers:

6: Wins for the Wild in their last eight games vs. the Rangers.

14-1-1: Run by the Wild at home to close out last regular season.

23-5-4: Record for the Wild against the Eastern Conference last season.

31: Victories for the Wild on home ice in 2021-22.

About the Rangers:

New York arrives at Xcel Energy Center already 1-0. In a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals, the Rangers upended the Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday. Center Mika Zibanejad scored twice, and winger Barclay Goodrow had the other tally. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves. The Rangers dropped both games against the Wild last season.