Wild at Ducks
Goals could be in short supply when the sputtering Minnesota Wild visit the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Minnesota saw its losing skid reach four games after being shut out in back-to-back contests while Anaheim (1.95 goals per game) has languished as the lowest-scoring team in the league throughout much of the season.
"We can't wait around until it's desperation time. It needs to be desperation time now, and we all understand that," Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk told the Minneapolis Star Tribune of his team's struggles. Dubnyk made 22 saves in a 3-0 setback to Nashville on Saturday and has yielded just six goals during his personal three-game skid, but stopped all 15 shots he faced in the Wild's 3-0 victory over Anaheim on Oct. 24. While Minnesota is playing the second contest of its four-game road trip, the Ducks have posted a 4-3-0 mark heading into the finale of their eight-game homestand. Rickard Rakell, who scored in Anaheim's 4-1 win over the Wild on Oct. 18, also tallied in his team's 3-2 setback to Pacific Division-rival Los Angeles on Sunday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE WILD (22-15-8): Jason Pominville is doing his best to keep his spirits up as the veteran forward has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last 12 games. "When things don't go your way, or the other goalie makes a couple of saves, you start kind of thinking about it, and thinking, 'Is this going to be one of those nights, again?'" Pominville said. Fellow forwards Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund likely would agree as the former has two tallies in his past 29 games while the latter has just one goal - into an empty net, no less - in his last 26 contests.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (19-18-7): Acquired from Pittsburgh over the weekend, David Perron made a favorable impression on his new teammates by scoring a goal versus the Kings. The 27-year-old Perron, who scored just four times in 43 games with the Penguins, is looking to rediscover his offense after a pair of 20-goal seasons with St. Louis and a 28-tally campaign with Edmonton. "That's why I'm here," Perron told the Orange County Register. "I want to get things going again. I know I'm a good player in this league and I want to prove that every night."
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota, which suffered a 1-0 loss to Winnipeg on Friday and a 3-0 setback to Nashville the following night, has mustered just 15 goals during a 2-5-2 stretch.
2. Anaheim has allowed a power-play goal in back-to-back games after killing off all 28 short-handed opportunities in its previous eight contests.
3. The Wild are 0-for-21 with the man advantage during the last 10 games.