Minnesota Wild hope for a much needed road win in Dallas
The Minnesota Wild arrive to American Airlines Center in Dallas looking for their first road win of the season. They hope to build on the success of beating the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 in St. Paul this past Tuesday.
The Rundown
Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars
Puck Drop: 7:10 p.m. Central time
Radio: KFAN FM and affiliates
Watch: NBCSN, NBC Sports App
All-Time Record vs. Stars: 29-29-12 (9-19-8 at Dallas)
17-18: Regular season series was split at 2-2-0
Team Series Leaders:
Minnesota Wild: Mikko Koivu has 34 points (13-21=34) in 44 games versus Dallas
Stars: Jamie Benn in 35 matchups against Minnesota has 32 points (13-19=32)
Wild Goalies vs. Stars: Dubnyk 7-8-2 with a 2.84 GAA and Stalock is 4-3-0 with 3.11 GAA
Stars Goalies vs. Wild: Bishop 2-3-0 with 1.95 GAA and Khudobin is 1-2-0 with 3.03 GAA
Injuries:
Wild: Joel Eriksson Ek– lower body injury; Matt Hendricks– lower body injury
Stars: Martin Hanzal– back; Stephen Johns– concussion; Marc Methot -lower-body injury; Valeri Nichushkin– lower body injury
Opponent: Dallas Stars
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The Dallas Stars opened the season red hot winning 3 of 4 games on a four-game homestand. Since then the Stars have cooled down. They hope to get back on track tonight beginning a stretch of home games that bring Los Angeles and Anaheim into Dallas as well.
Coach Jim Montgomery has to be very happy with the performance of his first line so far. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov are responsible for 11 of the 18 goals the Stars have scored this season. To compete in the highly competitive Central Division, the Stars will need to find some scoring from other contributors besides just this trio.
News and Notes
The Minnesota Wild look to take advantage of a Dallas Stars team that has lost 3 of 4 games after being shut out 3-0 Tuesday night in New Jersey.
Minnesota is a team that is struggling to find the back of the net. In 6 games, the Wild have scored just 14 goals. More scoring will be needed going into back to back games especially with Tampa Bay at the X tomorrow night. The Wild need to create more traffic in front of goaltender Ben Bishop in hopes of generating an offensive spark tonight in Dallas.
Speaking of offensive woes, Nino Niederreiter is having a tough start to his season. With no goals and 1 assist through 6 games the Wild need more production from him. Hopefully, he can turn his season around tonight.
Matt Hendricks looks to be out no longer than 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury. Matt Read was recalled from Des Moines replacing the injured Matt Hendricks.
Per Jessi Pierce at the Athletic (subscription required and recommended) , Read will be playing alongside Eric Staal and Jason Zucker on the Wilds top line. At 32, Read has played in a total 437 NHL games with 87 goals and 100 assists.