Kings at Wild
Defenseman Ryan Suter has had plenty of time to think about playing in his 1,000th career NHL game. After all, Minnesota answered a dizzying stretch of four contests in six nights by playing a waiting game that finally ends on Thursday as the Wild host the reeling Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center.
"I'm very blessed to be able to have the type of career I've had, and to have as much fun as I've had," said the 33-year-old Suter, who holds franchise records for points (262), assists (223), power-play assists (85), power-play points (100), shots (905), plus-minus (plus-69) and average ice time (28:01) for a defenseman. The Wild have been having fun with three straight wins, highlighted by Mikael Granlund scoring in overtime of a 5-4 triumph over Tampa Bay on Saturday. Los Angeles is trending in the other direction with five straight losses, although captain Anze Kopitar saw a few positives following Tuesday's 4-2 setback to Dallas. "I thought this was a step in the right direction, but we can't be satisfied with getting close," the 31-year-old Slovene said. "We've got to take the next step, build on some good things that were happening (Tuesday)."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), FS Wisconsin, FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE KINGS (2-6-1): Defenseman Sean Walker provided a ray of light in an otherwise dark night for Los Angeles, as the 23-year-old answered being recalled from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Monday by registering an assist on Tyler Toffoli's second-period goal for his first NHL point. "He looked really comfortable with the puck, really comfortable going back for pucks, really comfortable defending. Made a great play on a goal," coach John Stevens said. "Like I said, you want the kid to come in and make an impact. He made an impact." Los Angeles' power play isn't making much of an impact, however, as it is 3-for-30 this season.
ABOUT THE WILD (4-2-2): Devan Dubnyk has allowed just one goal in back-to-back outings and 13 total in six games to post a 2.11 goals-against average to go along with a scintillating .944 save percentage. The 32-year-old didn't fare as well in two meetings (0-1-1) with the Kings last season, yielding eight goals on 57 shots. Zach Parise has scored in back-to-back games and boasts team-leading totals in assists (seven) and points (10).
OVERTIME
1. Suter will become the sixth member of the Wild to play in his 1,000th NHL game, joining Eric Staal, Matt Cooke, Matt Cullen, Andrew Brunette and Keith Carney.
2. Toffoli, who has two goals in his last three contests overall, was held off the scoresheet in all three encounters versus Minnesota last season.
3. The Wild have yielded the first goal in each of their last six games.