1 p.m. vs. Winnipeg • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 100.3 FM
Jets’ season series starts with two lopsided wins over Wild
Preview: The Wild opens a weekend back-to-back at home vs. the Central Division rival Jets. Winnipeg won the previous two meetings, outscoring the Wild 11-2 in those games. Most recently, the Jets shut out the Wild 6-0 at Xcel Energy Center on Dec. 21. On Friday, the Wild assigned D Nick Seeler to the American Hockey League for a conditioning assignment.
Players to watch: Jets LW Kyle Connor has seven goals in his past five games. C Mark Scheifele is one goal shy of reaching the 20-goal plateau for a fifth straight season. … Wild C Mikko Koivu had an assist Tuesday in his first game back after missing 12 because of a lower-body injury. D Ryan Suter has 10 points in his past 10 games.
Numbers: The Jets wrapped up the first half of their season Thursday with a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Overall, they’re 22-16-3. … The Wild closed out its first half with back-to-back losses, scoring just once in each game. But in its past 23 games, the Wild is 13-6-4.
Injuries: Jets Cs Mark Letestu (upper body), Bryan Little (upper body) and Andrew Copp (upper body) and D Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) are out. … Wild D Greg Pateryn (lower body) and LW Jason Zucker (fractured fibula) are also out.
Sarah McLELLAN
