Wild at Stars
While dominant at home this season, the Minnesota Wild have been anything but on the road. They have played better in opposing rinks of late, however, and attempt to continue that trend when they visit the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Minnesota, which extended its home point streak to 10 games (8-0-2) with Friday's 5-2 triumph over Vegas, is only 10-14-1 on the road but has won two of its last three. The Wild occupy the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and are one point behind Dallas, which is coming off a 4-1 victory at Arizona on Thursday. The Stars have struggled at home recently, losing three of their last four while scoring a total of two goals in the setbacks. John Klingberg, who notched an assist against the Coyotes, leads Dallas - and all NHL defensemen - with 49 points and is four away from 200 for his career.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Southwest Plus (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WILD (28-18-5): Jason Zucker had his seven-game point streak snapped Friday, but Eric Staal increased his team-leading total to 46 points after registering two goals and an assist against the Golden Knights. The 33-year-old All-Star has recorded three multi-point performances over his last five contests and has landed on the scoresheet in five of his last six. Nino Niederreiter, who needs two goals to reach 100 in the NHL, returned to the lineup Friday after missing eight games with a lower-body injury and posted a plus-2 rating in 15 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time.
ABOUT THE STARS (29-19-4): Kari Lehtonen will be in net against Minnesota as Ben Bishop has been ruled out with a facial injury after being hit by a puck while sitting on the bench in Thursday's win. Antoine Roussel has missed two games with a nasal infection but participated in Friday's optional practice and could play against the Wild. "He's getting better and better," coach Ken Hitchcock told the team's website. "I don't know if we can clear it right now until we see how he feels (Saturday) morning."
OVERTIME
1. Wild D Ryan Suter has collected nine points (one goal) in his last 10 games, including his 400th career assist Friday.
2. Dallas C Tyler Seguin scored his team-leading 24th goal Friday, which was his second in three contests following a four-game drought.
3. Minnesota has earned points in 10 of its last 12 overall contests (8-2-2).