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Minnesota Wild: First meeting with the Winnipeg Jets this season

By Andrew Lennox

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 11: Jordan Greenway #18 and Charlie Coyle #3 of the Minnesota Wild crowd the Winnipe goal in front of Tyler Myers #57, Ben Chiarot #7 and Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jordan Greenway; Charlie Coyle; Tyler Myers; Ben Chiarot; Connor Hellebuyck
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 11: Jordan Greenway #18 and Charlie Coyle #3 of the Minnesota Wild crowd the Winnipe goal in front of Tyler Myers #57, Ben Chiarot #7 and Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jordan Greenway; Charlie Coyle; Tyler Myers; Ben Chiarot; Connor Hellebuyck /
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After losing seven of nine meetings to Winnipeg last season, the Minnesota Wild will be seeking revenge today in St. Paul.

Home ice advantage has been crucial for the Minnesota Wild this season with a record 7-2-2 in 11 games at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild’s special teams have played an essential role in their success this season. In five consecutive games, they have scored seven power play goals. Minnesota ranks third in the NHL with an 85.7 penalty kill percentage.

Whether the Minnesota Wild continue with the shuffled defensive pairings that provided a win against Ottawa is obviously a big question.

Captain Mikko Koivu has a five-game point streak, recording an assist on Wednesday, he now has two goals and six assists in his last five games ( 2-6=8 ).

Zach Parise registered his 10th assist of the season on Wednesday; he stretched his point streak to 3 games (2-1=3).

Per Daily Faceoff, Alex Stalock will likely be the starter against the Jets, Stalock is a 4-2-0 with a 2.53 GAA and a .91 SV% this year.

Opponent: Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg is 1-1-0 on their four-game road trip; Wednesday brought a 6-3 loss to the Flames in Calgary, they will wrap up the four-game road trip tomorrow night in St. Louis.

Finnish phenom Patrik Laine has five goals in his last two games after being in a huge slump – before the previous two games, he had three goals in the last 12 games.

Captain Blake Wheeler is having another excellent season for the Jets, he leads the team in points with three goals and 22 assists (3-22=25).

According to Daily Faceoff, Winnipeg has yet to name a starting goaltender for today’s game.

The Rundown

Minnesota Wild (13-7-2) vs. Winnipeg Jets (12-6-2)
Puck Drop: 3:09 p.m. CT
Radio: KFAN FM and affiliates
Watch: Fox Sports North; Fox Sports app
All-Time Record vs. Jets: 18-13-5 (10-5-3 at Xcel Energy Center, 8-8-2 at Winnipeg)
17-18: Minnesota went 1-3-0 in four season meetings against Winnipeg

Team Series Leaders:

Minnesota Wild: Eric Staal leads Minnesota with 62 points (26-36=62) in 72 games against Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Jets: Dustin Byfuglien leads Winnipeg with 32 points (8-24=32) in 39 matches against Minnesota.
Wild Goalies vs. Jets: Devan Dubnyk is 8-8-1 with a 2.75 GAA and a .905 SV% in 17 games (15 starts) vs. the Jets. Stalock is 3-2-0 with a 1.98 GAA, a .914 SV% and two shutouts in seven games (five starts).
Jets Goalies vs. Wild: Connor Hellebuyck is 5-2-0 with a 2.52 GAA, a .911 SV% and one shutout in 10 games against the Wild. G Laurent Brossoit made 15-of-16 saves in relief in his sole career action against Minnesota.

Injuries:

Minnesota Wild: no injuries
Winnipeg Jets: Dmitry Kulikov (lower body)

The Minnesota Wild leads Winnipeg by two points and is sitting in second place in the Central Division.

A victory today would put some distance between Minnesota and Winnipeg in the highly competitive Central Division; we should see a playoff-like atmosphere today in St. Paul.

All statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Daily Faceoff.

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