Stars at Wild
After failing to make a dent in its last outing, the Minnesota Wild's fourth-ranked offense looks to continue its barrage of the Dallas Stars on Thursday when the Central Division rivals wrap up their five-game season series at Xcel Energy Center. The Western Conference-leading Wild registered 37 shots but failed to solve Anaheim's John Gibson in Tuesday's 1-0 setback, dropping Minnesota to 2-1-1 on its season-high eight-game homestand and 26-5-3 since Dec. 2.
"You've just got to continue to attack ... sure, it's frustrating ... but you've got to do your best to bear down," said veteran Eric Staal, who has just one goal and five points in his last 15 games. The 32-year-old Staal looks to get untracked versus the Stars, against whom he scored in the Wild's 4-0 victory on Oct. 29 and again in a 5-4 decision on Jan. 14. The latter setback ignited a stretch of 11 losses in 15 contests (4-9-2) for Dallas, which continues to be plagued by porous goaltending performances as it yielded five goals in back-to-back tilts to begin its three-game road trip. Veteran netminders Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, who are each signed through next season, have combined for a .901 save percentage and the Stars reside 29th in goals against per game (3.21).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Wisconsin, FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE STARS (22-26-10): Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn continued to be a potent 1-2 punch in the Lone Star State, as each collected a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 5-2 loss at Winnipeg. Seguin has five points on the current road trip and 12 (five goals, seven assists) in his last 11 games and has scored two goals and set up two others versus Minnesota this season. Benn, who joined Chicago's Patrick Kane as the only other member of the 2007 NHL draft class to eclipse the 500-point milestone, has recorded three straight multi-point performances to highlight his four-game point streak (three goals, four assists).
ABOUT THE WILD (37-13-6): Defenseman Jonas Brodin inched closer to a return from his fractured finger by taking slap shots for the first time during Wednesday's practice. "I hoping it's sooner than later," coach Bruce Boudreau said of Brodin's potential return. "He looks like he's skating fine. I gotta believe it's in the not-too-distant future." Fellow blue-liner Matt Dumba was absent from practice on Wednesday due to illness and Boudreau admitted that his return to the lineup may come after the club's bye week.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas RW Patrick Eaves, who is tied with Seguin for a team-leading 21 goals, has been held off the scoresheet in five of his last six games.
2. Wild G Devan Dubnyk is 2-0-0 with an 0.96 goals-against average and .970 save percentage in two meetings with the Stars this season.
3. Dallas' 30th-ranked penalty kill has permitted 10 power-play goals in the last 11 games.