Jets at Wild
The Minnesota Wild will be without top goaltender Niklas Backstrom as the new Central Division-rival Winnipeg Jets pay a visit on Thursday. "Good news, he's only day-to-day right now," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said of the netminder, who suffered a knee strain during the first period of Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Nashville. Josh Harding, who stopped 19-of-20 shots in relief of Backstrom, has been named the starter for Thursday's contest.
Winnipeg finally hits the road after three straight contests at MTS Centre, although it doesn't have far to go as it faces the nearest geographic adversary. Devin Setoguchi likely will feel at home after playing two seasons with the Wild before being acquired from Minnesota this summer. The 26-year-old downplayed the reunion, telling the Winnipeg Free Press that "it's just another hockey game - just played against some friends I know from last year."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN (Winnipeg), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE JETS (2-1-0): Andrew Ladd scored his team's lone two goals in a 3-2 setback against Anaheim on Sunday. The captain joins three others with two tallies while his plus-3 is matched only by Evander Kane. Workhorse Ondrej Pavelec, who has played all but 24 seconds this season, is expected to receive his fourth straight start.
ABOUT THE WILD (0-1-2): Zach Parise has scored three times in as many games and has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 24 career contests versus Winnipeg. Defenseman Ryan Suter, who joined Parise as new acquisitions last season, has collected a pair of assists - but isn't too happy that the team has failed to break into the win column. "It's frustrating," Suter told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "You can't be happy, you can't be satisfied. We're doing a lot of good things, just not getting wins."
OVERTIME
1. Parise's goal total is just one shy of the combined effort of the rest of the Wild.
2. Winnipeg opens a six-game homestand after Thursday's contest.
3. Minnesota recalled LW Stephane Veilleux from Iowa of the American Hockey League and shipped RW Carson McMillan and LW Jason Zucker to the same club.