The Wild are back home at Xcel Energy Center tonight to face the Oilers for the second time in four days (7 p.m., BSN-Extra).
Marc-Andre Fleury starts, Sammy Walker in lineup as Wild faces Oilers tonight at the X
Edmonton hasn't played since beating the Wild, which is coming off a victory in Vancouver, on Friday.
December 12, 2022 at 5:47PM
Before wrapping up their four-game road trip with a 3-0 win at Vancouver on Saturday, the Wild fell 5-2 at Edmonton on Friday.
That result snapped a seven-game slide for the Oilers vs. the Wild.
"Our group is pretty aware of how they play and who they have in their lineup," coach Dean Evason said. "Yeah, will we show a few things positive things that we did in Vancouver? Will we show some negative things we did in Edmonton? Sure.
"But end of the day, the puck drops we gotta play like the Minnesota Wild, hopefully do the right things as far as staying out of the penalty box and playing the right way to give ourselves a chance."
Marc-Andre Fleury will be back in net for the Wild after backup Filip Gustavsson closed out the road trip.
That's the only lineup change planned for the Wild, meaning Sammy Walker will stay in the lineup after making his NHL debut on Saturday.
The Edina native skated 9 minutes, 54 seconds in that game and had two shot attempts. He also drew the penalty that led to Matt Boldy's power play goal that stood up as the game-winner.
"He just had a presence about him that maybe he wasn't intimidated," Evason said. "Now tonight he might feel a little bit more butterflies than he had. We've talked about this: He's not a 19-year-old kid either, right? He's an older first year player. Hopefully he can handle it in the same manner that he did in Vancouver."
Projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Sammy Walker-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury
Key numbers
4: Points for Kirill Kaprizov in two games vs. Edmonton this season.
6: Game point streak for Mats Zuccarello.
6: Shorthanded goals for the Wild, which leads the NHL.
82.1: Percent efficiency on the penalty kill for the Wild since Nov. 8.
799: Games played by captain Jared Spurgeon.
About the Oilers
Unlike the Wild, the Oilers haven't played since their win over the Wild on Friday at home. Captain Connor McDavid extended his goal streak to a career-high seven games. That game was the 90th time McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored a goal in the same game. Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has three points in each of his last two games. Winger Zach Hyman is on a six-game point streak with nine assists in that span.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl showed his MVP qualifications with a goal and three assists.
