Panthers at Wild
The cellar-dwelling Minnesota Wild have reason for optimism heading into Monday's tilt versus the visiting Florida Panthers. The Wild answered a season high-tying four-game skid (0-3-1) with a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday and the most lopsided home win in franchise history two nights later, a 7-0 shellacking of Dallas.
"There are so many great teams, and we feel like we're one of them," Minnesota forward Jason Zucker told reporters. "There's good stretches and bad stretches. We just have to balance those as best we can." The 28-year-old recorded his first three-point performance of the season after collecting one goal and two assists on Saturday, and he had one of each as the Wild overcame an early deficit in a 4-2 victory over the Panthers on Dec. 3. Captain Aleksander Barkov scored in the initial meeting with Minnesota and tallied on Saturday as Florida recorded its season-high fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over Detroit. "We're playing hard and having fun. We're playing for each other and getting results," said the 24-year-old Barkov, who has two goals and four assists in his last four games overall and three and 11, respectively, in 13 career matches with Minnesota.
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, FS Wisconsin, FS North Plus, TVA, Sportsnet
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (26-16-5): Two-time Vezina Trophy recipient Sergei Bobrovsky didn't look the worse for wear in his return from an upper-body injury Saturday, turning aside 27 shots and helping Florida overcome seven short-handed situations. "It's great to be back, definitely, to play some hockey," said the 31-year-old Bobrovsky, who improved to 6-3-0 in his last nine starts. "I missed only two games, but it feels like I haven't played for a whole month. The guys did a great job. The focus was there. It was a great effort and a big two points for us." While the Panthers traditionally have struggled versus the Wild, Bobrovsky sports a sterling 9-3-1 record with one shutout, a 1.82 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in 13 career appearances.
ABOUT THE WILD (22-20-6): Zach Parise's fourth goal in three games came on the power play in the third period on Saturday, giving Minnesota eight tallies with the man advantage in its last eight contests. The 35-year-old, who leads the team with 18 goals, has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 36 career encounters with the Panthers while fellow forward Mats Zuccarello has 24 (13 goals, 11 assists) in 22 meetings. Zuccarello scored and set up a goal on Saturday after recording just one point in his previous eight games.
OVERTIME
1. Florida RW Evgenii Dadonov has scored nine of his club-best 21 goals in the first period.
2. The Wild have won seven in a row at home versus the Panthers and own a scintillating 10-0-2 record in the teams' 12 meetings in Saint Paul, Minn.
3. Florida LW Jonathan Huberdeau, who leads the team in assists (46) and points (64), has five and 11, respectively, in 11 career matches with Minnesota.