Senators at Wild
The Minnesota Wild can inch closer to a postseason berth and officially end the uphill climb of the Ottawa Senators when the teams meet at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. Minnesota has won a season-best six games in a row to build a five-point lead over Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference while Ottawa remained mathematically alive in the East with a 2-1 victory over Winnipeg on Wednesday.
The Wild continued their winning ways by completing a five-game season sweep of nemesis Chicago with a 4-1 triumph on Tuesday. "We're just trying to get in right now, trying to play as well as possible and take that into the playoffs," said Erik Haula, who has collected four goals and six assists during his career-high nine-game point streak. Haula set up a goal in the first meeting with Ottawa, but Senators captain Erik Karlsson capped a three-point performance with an overtime goal in a 3-2 triumph on March 15. The two-time Norris Trophy recipient has collected 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in eight career encounters with the Wild but saw his three-game point streak come to an end on Wednesday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS2, WPCW (Ottawa), FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (35-33-9): Mark Stone remained in Manitoba for further examination after he was on the receiving end of a bruising hit by Dustin Byfuglien during the second period. Stone returned to the contest before exiting in the third session with a chest injury. Craig Anderson, who made 23 saves in the first meeting, will look to improve upon his 5-7-2 career record versus Minnesota on Thursday.
ABOUT THE WILD (38-28-11): Nino Niederreiter scored and set up a goal versus the Blackhawks and also tallied in the first meeting with the Senators. The latter contest was the last time Devan Dubnyk tasted defeat, as the netminder has yielded just eight goals during his six-game winning streak and is 11-1-1 in his last 13 decisions. Captain Mikko Koivu has recorded two goals and seven assists over his last seven games and leads the team with 55 points.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota D Jared Spurgeon has scored three of his career-high 11 goals in his last three contests.
2. Senators C Mika Zibanejad scored and set up a goal in the first meeting with the Wild
3. Minnesota is 27-for-28 on the penalty kill over its last 11 games.