6 p.m. at N.Y. Islanders • FSN, 100.3-FM

Preview: The Wild, hoping to put an ice-cold January far, far behind in the past, opens the post-All Star portion of the schedule hoping to at least resemble the team that went 24-5-1 after the break last season. Like last season, the Wild emerges from the break out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference after losing 10 of 13 January games. The Islanders emerge from the break in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, having gone 5-4-1 in their past 10. The Islanders went 2-1-1 in the four games before the break.

Players to watch: Wild winger Charlie Coyle scored a goal in each of the three games leading to the break. But several key players are struggling to score; Mikael Granlund has one goal in 30 games, Jason Pominville has zero in 16, Nino Niederreiter has two in his past 33 and Jason Zucker six in his past 34. G Devan Dubnyk, given Monday's practice off after his All-Star Game appearance, is 2-2-0 all-time vs. the Islanders. New York is getting big contributions from two native Minnesotans. RW Kyle Okposo leads the team in points (12-23—35) and Nick Leddy leads the team's defensemen in scoring (3-15—18).

Numbers: The Wild is OK on defense, having allowed only 2.23 goals per game in January. But it scored only 1.76 per game in the month.

Injuries: Wild LW Ryan Carter (hand) returned to practice Monday but is not likely to return in this game. Islanders D Johnny Boychuk (upper body), LW Eric Boulton (undisclosed) and D Adam Pelech (upper body) are on injured reserve.

KENT YOUNGBLOOD