The Minnesota Wild open regular season play at the Xcel Energy Center against a Winnipeg team it hasn’t faced since Jan. 4, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic – a span of 653 days.
Minnesota enters with a 15-1-4 mark in the franchises home opener history and the Jets matchup is the first of a three-game stand in St. Paul this week.
The Wild are coming off a successful two-game trip to southern California to open the regular season. Winnipeg is looking for its first win.
Back at our home... on our ice.
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2021
All we need is you.
Join us 🎟 » https://t.co/lus63DwWag pic.twitter.com/uM16Los582
Series history
The Wild have a 24-15-5 all-time record against their Central Division foe, that includes a 14-6-3 mark at the Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota is 7-2 against the Jets in the last nine matchups in St. Paul.
Minnesota went 1-2 against the Jets in the 2019-20 season with the lone win being a 3-2 overtime game.
Marcus Foligno has six goals and 14 points in 23 games against Winnipeg. Alex Goligoski has 13 points in his career against the Jets, while Dmitry Kulikov and Jared Spurgeon both have 12 points.
Spurgeon is two points away from reaching 200 for his career with Minnesota. He would be the eighth player in team history to reach that mark.
Cam Talbot is 6-4-1 with a 3.10 goals against average and .914 saves percentage in 11 starts against the Jets.
Winnipeg center Paul Stastny has 16 goals and 41 points in 67 games against Minnesota. Blake Wheeler has 14 goals and 35 points in 38 games.
Lineups
There appears to be no change in the Wild’s lineup from what the team used in the first two games in southern California over the weekend.
If I didn’t mention yesterday, Dean Evason said same #mnwild lineup as the road trip and obvious Cam Talbot starts tonight’s home opener vs. Winnipeg.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 19, 2021
So debuts of Rem Pitlick and Jordie Benn remain on hold.
As for the Jets, the team appears set to roll out this lineup:
Betting odds
The Wild vs. Jets betting odds on WynnBET has the Wild as a 1.5 favorite on the road. The Wild have -147 moneyline odds, while the Jets are the underdog at +132. The total goals is set at an over/under of 5.5.
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Wild schedule
Saturday, Oct. 23: Anaheim, 5 p.m., CST.
Sunday, Oct. 24: Nashville, 5 p.m., CST.
Tuesday, Oct. 26: @Vancouver, 9 p.m. CST.