Kings at Wild
The Minnesota Wild return from their bye week Monday to conclude an eight-game homestand and try to close the gap in the race for the Presidents' Trophy as they host the Los Angeles Kings. Minnesota, which is 4-2-1 on its stretch at Xcel Energy Center, trails Washington by five points for the top spot in the NHL despite recording its last victory on Feb. 18.
Mikael Granlund has registered a career-high 55 points to lead the Wild, who entered Sunday with a three-point lead over Chicago in the Central Division. Los Angeles is battling for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference and climbed within three points of St. Louis with Saturday's 4-1 triumph over Anaheim. The victory was twice as sweet for the Kings, who welcomed back Jonathan Quick to the lineup from a groin injury the goaltender suffered in the season opener. Quick made 32 saves and Tyler Toffoli recorded his second two-goal performance of the season to help give Darryl Sutter his 216th victory with Los Angeles, which moved him past Andy Murray for the franchise lead. Each team made a trade on Sunday, as Minnesota acquired centers Martin Hanzal and Ryan White from Arizona while Los Angeles obtained Ben Bishop from Tampa Bay for a package that included fellow goaltender Peter Budaj.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVA
ABOUT THE KINGS (30-27-4): Jeff Carter scored for the first time in six games in the win over the Ducks to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fourth time in his career and first since 2010-11 with Philadelphia. Former captain Dustin Brown netted a tally Saturday to end his four-game drought and close within two of 500 points. Jordan Nolan returned to the lineup versus Anaheim after missing nine games with a pulled muscle and saw 6 minutes, 36 seconds of ice time on 10 shifts.
ABOUT THE WILD (39-14-6): Granlund, who is tied with Nino Niederreiter for the team lead in goals with 19, will be playing in his 300th NHL game on Monday. The 25-year-old Finn has landed on the scoresheet in five of his last six contests, collecting four goals and three assists in that span. Charlie Coyle, who has gone four games without a point, has notched a personal-best 30 assists this season and needs one more to reach 100 for his career.
OVERTIME
1. Kings G Jeff Zatkoff cleared waivers and was assigned to Ontario of the American Hockey League.
2. Minnesota recalled C Zac Dalpe from Iowa of the American Hockey League and signed veteran LW Ryan Carter to a two-way contract for the remainder of the season.
3. Monday's contest begins a two-day, two-game road trip for Los Angeles before it starts a seven-game homestand on Thursday.