Jets at Wild
The Minnesota Wild look to secure a spot in the postseason Monday, when they face off against the Winnipeg Jets in their final home game of the regular season. Minnesota, which has a four-point lead atop the wild-card standings in the Western Conference, can clinch a playoff berth with a regulation victory over Winnipeg.
The Wild are concluding a five-game homestand during which they fell to 2-1-1 with a shootout loss to Detroit on Saturday. Winnipeg, which is kicking off a three-game road trip, will attempt to climb back into a playoff spot as it is even in points with Los Angeles for the second wild card but resides on the wrong side of the tiebreaker. The Jets ended their two-game slide Saturday with a 5-4 triumph over Vancouver as Lee Stempniak completed his two-goal performance by netting what proved to be the winning tally midway through the third period. The Central Division rivals are wrapping up their five-game season series in which each team posted a pair of one-goal victories at home, with three of the contests needing overtime to be decided.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE JETS (40-26-12): Winnipeg, which trails Minnesota by four points with four games remaining, once again will be without one of its biggest impact players in Dustin Byfuglien. The rugged defenseman, who is fifth on the team in scoring with 45 points while leading the club with 122 penalty minutes, will be serving the second contest of the four-game suspension he received for cross-checking J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers. The Jets could be missing another blue-liner on Monday as Tobias Enstrom is listed as day-to-day after suffering an upper-body injury late in the victory over the Canucks.
ABOUT THE WILD (44-26-8): Minnesota expects its captain to return to action against the Jets as Mikko Koivu missed his first game of the season Saturday due to a scratched cornea. The 32-year-old Finn is fourth on the team with 47 points and tied for second with four game-winning goals. Devan Dubnyk likely will make his 38th consecutive start overall and 37th since being acquired from Arizona on Jan. 15.
OVERTIME
1. Dubnyk's consecutive starts streak is the longest in the NHL since San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov made 43 in a row during the 2007-08 season.
2. While it could be missing two defensemen, Winnipeg will welcome one back to the lineup as it activated Ben Chiarot (hand) from injured reserve on Sunday.
3. Minnesota ranks first in the league in penalty killing with an 86.7 percent success rate.