Wild at Oilers
The Minnesota Wild are buried in last place in the Central Division but remain within seven points of the final playoff slot in the Western Conference as they prepare to visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Mediocre goaltending has haunted the Wild, who face a three-game trek through Western Canada coming out of the All-Star break. Although Minnesota has dropped 14 of its last 18 overall (4-9-5), it has won eight of its last nine in Edmonton.
Starting netminder Darcy Kuemper made his first appearance in two weeks in relief of recently acquired Devan Dubnyk and stopped all 14 shots at Detroit in the final game before the break, providing hope that the Wild will have more stability at the position. Hope has been in short supply for the Oilers, who own a league-low 12 wins but are coming off a pair of come-from-behind shootout victories on the road. Edmonton rallied from two goals down in the final 4:11 to beat Washington, marking its first back-to-back wins since Nov. 7-9.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota) RSNO (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE WILD (20-20-8): Zach Parise might have been among the few players who didn't welcome the All-Star break after scoring twice in the the third period of the shootout loss to Detroit to extend his goal-scoring streak to four games - matching his longest string since Jan. 31-Feb. 5, 2012. Parise, who was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week, has scored on the power play in consecutive contests and has amassed 23 shots on goal in the four-game string. Defenseman Ryan Suter notched a goal and an assist Sunday in his second All-Star Game appearance.
ABOUT THE OILERS (12-26-9): Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up a pair of assists at the All-Star Game, including setting up the opening tally of the contest to cap a memorable weekend for the 21-year-old former No. 1 overall draft pick. “It was great," said Nugent-Hopkins, who is tied with Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall for the team scoring lead with 29 points. "Definitely something I won’t forget for a long time.” Nugent-Hopkins also had a pair of two-point games in the last three before the break following a seven-game span in which he had only one assist.
OVERTIME
1. Parise needs one goal to reach 20 for the seventh time in his career.
2. Eberle has six goals and 17 points in 18 games against Minnesota.
3. Dubnyk won all three starts - allowing one goal in each - versus the Oilers this season while with Arizona.