WILD GAMEDAY
vs. Washington at Capital One Arena: 6 p.m. Friday
TV; radio: BSN; 100.3 FM
Stats and analytics: Tap here.
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Sarah McLellan's preview:
Opening bell: This is the Wild's first back-to-back of the season, and they'll face a Capitals squad that's won just once in their last four games. G Marc-Andre Fleury is scheduled to start in net for the Wild. In Fleury's last appearance, he made 20 saves in a 7-3 loss to the Kings on Oct. 19. At 545 career victories, Fleury is seven away from passing Patrick Roy and becoming the second-winningest goalie in NHL history.
Watch him: Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin is 70 goals away from matching Wayne Gretzky's all-time record. Both of Ovechkin's goals this season have come in his last two games.
Injuries: Wild RW Matt Boldy (upper body), RW Frederick Gaudreau (upper body), D Alex Goligoski (lower body) and D Jared Spurgeon (upper body); Capitals C Nic Dowd (upper body), D Joel Edmundson (hand), G Charlie Lindgren (upper body) and LW Max Pacioretty (Achilles).
Forecast: Although the Capitals will have the edge in rest — they last played on Wednesday — the Wild have won the last three road games in this matchup. They also prevailed at home last season vs. Washington to sweep the season series. Keeping an eye on Ovechkin will be key: not only is he on a four-game point streak, Ovechkin has a whopping 36 points in 21 career games against the Wild.
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