Wild at Kings
The Minnesota Wild have won seven of their last nine games overall and six in a row on the road to insert themselves in the playoff conversation in the Western Conference. The surging Wild look to continue their march on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Los Angeles Kings, who have won a season-best four in a row.
Minnesota can credit its ascent due to the strong play of Alex Stalock, who improved to 11-3-1 in his last 15 decisions after making 19 of his 40 saves in the third period on Thursday in a 3-2 win over his former team -- the San Jose Sharks. "Goaltending has been huge and (Stalock) has been solid," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. "We're kind of feeding off that right now. We just need to continue that effort." While Minnesota has yielded just eight goals in its last five contests, Los Angeles has been rather stingy as well by allowing just eight non-shootout tallies in its last six. "We're just kind of sticking with it," Jonathan Quick said after stopping all 36 shots he faced in the Kings' 1-0 shootout win over Toronto on Thursday. "I think guys are playing a little bit more confident after getting (some) wins. It's good to see the hard work we're putting in get rewarded."
TIME: 4 p.m. ET. TV: FS North, FS West
ABOUT THE WILD (34-26-7): Zach Parise, who has recorded 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 28 career matches against Los Angeles, boosted his team-leading goal total to 25 after scoring in his fourth consecutive game on Thursday. Kevin Fiala set up Parise's goal to extend his point streak to six games (five goals, seven assists), but his run of multi-point performances ended with him one shy of becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Joe Sakic in 1997. Defenseman Matt Dumba leads all players with three points (one goal, two assists) in the season series.
ABOUT THE KINGS (26-35-6): Adrian Kempe scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout on Thursday to keep Los Angeles on its victorious path. "He's playing with authority," coach Todd McLellan said of the 23-year-old Swede, who has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past eight games. "He's imposing his speed and his will on other teams, playing within the structure, obviously confident, so a lot of good things going for him right now, so (I'm) happy about that." Captain Anze Kopitar, who joined Kempe in scoring in the shootout on Thursday, scored and set up a goal in the Kings' 3-1 win over Minnesota on Nov. 12.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles D Drew Doughty resides one point shy of 500 for his career.
2. The Wild sport a 9-2-4 record in their last 15 games against the Kings.
3. McLellan confirmed that G Cal Petersen will get the nod on Saturday for Los Angeles.