Rangers at Wild
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin made one trade Monday and warned his players that more deals would be forthcoming if he sensed any quit in the team. The Wild responded with one of their more complete performances of the season and will attempt to keep the momentum going against the visiting New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Minnesota made it four wins in five games with a 4-0 drubbing of Vegas on Tuesday night to close within four points of the second wild card in the Western Conference. “Message received, I guess,” forward Zach Parise said of the team's effort one day after Jason Zucker was shipped to Pittsburgh. "When a trade like that is made, everyone is on notice as it is. So it’s a little bit of an eye-opener, and we responded well.” Trade rumors are swirling around the Rangers, who are lagging nine points out of a wild-card spot and must play seven of their next nine away from home. "It's unbelievable to see how much everyone's progressing, how much everyone's improving, so that's something we've focused on and that's something we've got to continue to focus on," forward Chris Kreider said after New York improved to 5-2-0 in its last seven in Tuesday's 4-1 win at Winnipeg.
TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: MSG, FS North, FS Wisconsin
ABOUT THE RANGER (28-23-4): With the trade deadline approaching, speculation continues to swirl around a potential change of address for Kreider, who is driving up the asking price by scoring twice Tuesday to give him 10 goals over the past 13 games. Kreider also scored a goal and Artemi Panarin collected three assists in New York's 3-2 overtime win over the Wild on Nov. 25. Top-line center Mika Zibanejad also is on a tear, scoring one goal and setting up another to give him six tallies and 14 points over his last 10 games.
ABOUT THE WILD (27-23-6): Forward Kevin Fiala, acquired from Nashville at last season's trade deadline, collected a season-high three points in Tuesday's victory to give him five goals and as many assists during a five-game point streak. “I’m very excited when I have the puck when I’m on the ice,” said Fiala, who was re-signed to a two-year, $6 million contract. “Just try to do something out there to help the team.” Six of Fiala's last 10 points have come on the power play, which has converted on 15 of 34 chances in the last 11 games.
OVERTIME
1. Parise has seven goals in the past 11 games overall and also tallied against New York in November.
2. Rangers F Ryan Strome, who ended a 12-game goal drought Tuesday, has not tallied in 15 games versus Minnesota.
3. Wild D Matt Dumba was fined $5,000 by the NHL for slashing Vegas' Ryan Reaves.