WILD GAMEDAY
vs. Buffalo Sabres, Xcel Energy Center, 4 p.m. Saturday
TV; radio: BSN; 100.3 FM
For the fans: The Wild will celebrate Black History Month during the game. Youth skaters from Mosaic Hockey Collective will participate in a shootout during the second intermission. That organization as well as DinoMights, Minnesota Hockey, BIPOC Play it Forward, Building A Better You, Black School Scholars Matter and Par365 will be featured on the concourse. There will also be a Black History Celebration jersey auction, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Minnesota Wild Foundation and Minnesota Hockey's Diversity Equity and Inclusion programming.
Sarah McLellan's preview:
Opening bell: The Wild have yet to win five in a row this season, but they'll have that chance on Saturday in their return home from sweeping a two-game road trip. This is the third time the Wild (25-23-5) have had a four-game win streak, and their latest run has been headlined by their top line. LW Kirill Kaprizov, C Joel Eriksson Ek and RW Matt Boldy have combined for seven goals and 10 assists over their past three games. They'll encounter a Buffalo squad that's coming off a 4-0 loss to Florida, but earlier in the week the Sabres (23-26-4) routed Los Angeles 7-0.
Watch him: Sabres LW Jordan Greenway has scored four of his eight goals this season in his past seven games. The former Wild forward delivered his most productive game of the season in that blowout win vs. the Kings, tallying two goals and an assist. In 58 games with the Sabres since the Wild traded Greenway to Buffalo last March for two draft picks, Greenway has 12 goals and nine assists.
Injuries: Wild LW Marcus Foligno (lower body), RW Pat Maroon (back) and D Jared Spurgeon (hip/back). Sabres D Owen Power (upper body), RW Jack Quinn (lower body) and D Mattias Samuelsson (upper body).
Forecast: The Sabres are 10 points shy of the playoff pace in the Eastern Conference, but they can still be a tough matchup. Case in point: their dismantling of the Kings just days ago. Still, if the Wild stick to their strengths, they could easily pick up that elusive fifth straight victory. They'll have a new look on defense, with Declan Chisholm penciled in for his Wild debut after getting claimed off waivers from Winnipeg last month, and G Filip Gustavsson is scheduled to start. But keep an eye on the offense: the return of F Mason Shaw should up the competitiveness for ice time, and this could be the first round of auditions to stay in the lineup.
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