Capitals at Wild
The Minnesota Wild are in the midst of a franchise-record run, earning points in 13 consecutive home games (10-0-3) to move into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It's the longest stretch in the NHL since last season's 17-game home point streak by the Washington Capitals, who will pay a visit to the Wild on Thursday night.
Good things are coming in threes for Minnesota, which has built a three-goal lead in each of its last three games and hasn't lost in regulation at Xcel Energy Center since Dec. 16. "We'll take three-goal leads every game," forward Eric Staal said. "We'll do that every time. That's fine. Three's a big hill. For us to be able to come out with that lead and to be able to get that, it's big." Washington suffered its second straight overtime defeat, coughing up a two-goal lead in the third period in Tuesday's 4-3 loss at Winnipeg in the opener of a four-game road trip. The Capitals own a six-game winning streak in the series after knocking off the visiting Wild 3-1 on Nov. 18 and have been victorious in their last three trips to Minnesota.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Washington, FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (32-17-7): Braden Holtby made 30 saves against the Wild in mid-November to improve to 8-2-0 lifetime against them, but he suddenly is struggling if the game goes beyond regulation. Holtby was superb in such situations early in the season, winning his first nine decisions in either overtime or a shootout, but Tuesday's loss was his fourth consecutive OT setback. Evgeny Kuznetsov, riding an 11-game point streak, scored one goal and set up another in the early-season win over Minnesota.
ABOUT THE WILD (31-19-6): Staal has scored five times in the past six games to give him back-to-back 25-goal seasons for the first time since 2009-11 with the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal failed to hit the scoresheet against Washington in November, but he has averaged a point per game against the Capitals with 29 goals and 44 assists in 73 contests. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk is 5-0-1 in his last six starts overall, but he is 2-4-1 with a 3.61 goals-against average versus Washington.
OVERTIME
1. Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom has one goal (and 15 assists) in 13 games versus the Wild, but he has scored in four of his last five contests.
2. Wild F Zach Parise, who didn't make his season debut until Jan. 2, is on a four-game point streak.
3. Kuznetsov needs one assist to reach 40 for the third straight season.