Senators at Wild
While the Minnesota Wild made a pair of moves to solidify their depth at the trade deadline, they are still reaping huge dividends from their season-saving deal in mid-January. Minnesota is 15-3-2 since acquiring goaltender Devan Dubnyk from Arizona and has seized the second wild card in the Western Conference entering Tuesday's matchup against the visiting Ottawa Senators. Dubnyk was named the NHL's First Star of the Month after going 11-2-1 in February.
The Wild brought in forward Chris Stewart and defenseman Jordan Leopold in separate trades Monday and both are expected to play against the resurgent Senators, who also have also had their playoff hopes resuscitated by a goaltender. Ottawa has won all five games since rookie Andrew Hammond was promoted from the minors, including a three-game California sweep of Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. The Senators are seven points back of eighth-place Boston in the East.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RDS (Ottawa), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (27-23-10): Hammond got his chance following injuries to Ottawa's top two netminders, Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner, and has surrendered five goals during his five-game winning streak. Hammond was named the league's First Star of the Week after becoming the second player in history to post consecutive road shutouts at Anaheim and Los Angeles - and the first to do it in back-to-back nights. Rookie Mike Hoffman has scored six goals over the past eight games to boost his team-leading total to 23 for the Senators.
ABOUT THE WILD (33-22-7): A former 28-goal scorer with Colorado in 2009-10, Stewart was acquired from Buffalo and said he expects a return to the Western Conference and Central Division is "going to drive me to elevate my play." Minnesota traded defenseman Justin Falk in exchange for Leopold, a Minnesota native who had an ardent fan lobbying the team to make a trade with Columbus and bring him home. Leopold's 11-year-old daughter, Jordyn, wrote a touching letter saying she is "lost without my dad and so is my mom, my 2 sisters, and my brother."
OVERTIME
1. The Senators have won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 3-0 home shutout on Nov. 6.
2. Minnesota has killed off 43-of-44 penalties since the All-Star break
3. Ottawa wraps up its five-game road trip in Winnipeg on Wednesday.