Wild at Ducks
At least the Minnesota Wild won't have to wait long to flush one of their worst performances of the season when they complete a three-game California trip Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. Minnesota matched a season high for goals allowed in a 7-3 loss to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon that ended its six-game road winning streak and sits one point behind Vancouver, Nashville and Winnipeg, who share the Western Conference wild-card lead.
Anaheim is playing the spoiler role well lately and will try to make it three straight victories over playoff contenders after winning at Colorado 4-3 in overtime Wednesday and defeating Toronto 2-1 on Friday in the first of four straight at Honda Center. "Two big wins against two good teams," Ducks forward Carter Rowney told the media Friday after scoring his eighth goal of the season. "Hopefully we can keep it going on this homestand." The Ducks may be without goaltender John Gibson, who left Friday's game in the third period with an upper-body injury, but Ryan Miller is more than a capable backup. "They're both world-class goaltenders, so it's nice to have them in our corner," Rowney told the media.
TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: FS Wisconsin, FS North, Prime Ticket
ABOUT THE WILD (34-27-7): Marcus Foligno recorded a goal and an assist against Los Angeles after missing the scoresheet in 12 of his previous 13 games and set a new career high with 24 points. Luke Kunin scored his 15th goal of the season Saturday and has two goals and an assist in three contests since missing five with an upper-body injury. Devan Dubnyk could play for the first time in eight games after Alex Stalock was roughed up by the Kings, halting a stretch in which he was 4-1-0 with a 1.61 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (28-32-8): Adam Henrique scored his team-leading 25th goal Friday to snap a four-game pointless streak and has 40, trailing captain Ryan Getzlaf by one for the team lead. David Backes recorded an assist against Toronto for his first point in three contests since being acquired from Boston on Feb. 21. Josh Manson (upper body) is day-to-day after missing his second straight game Friday and if he cannot go Sunday, Jani Hakanpaa will play his third career game after earning a plus-1 rating in the first two contests.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota C Eric Staal remains away from the team because of a death in the family.
2. Anaheim is 0-for-9 on the power play in its last four games, lowering the league's worst percentage to 14.1.
3. The clubs split the first two meetings this season with the road team winning each game. The Ducks' Rickard Rakell scored a goal in both contests and added a shootout tally in Anaheim's 3-2 victory in the last encounter Dec. 10.