After a three-day break in the schedule, the Wild are finally back in action Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center when their seven-game homestand continues.
But will their rest help them slow down an Oilers squad led by Connor McDavid that played the previous night?
"Do you think McDavid's speed changes because he played 20-something minutes or whatever it was last night? No," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "They're elite, elite athletes. We don't put a lot of stock into that. We expect them to have their best game as they always do."
Since the Wild's last game Sunday, a 4-3 win over Arizona, Edmonton has played twice, nabbing both games to extend its win streak to three.
On Wednesday, the Oilers prevailed 5-4 at Chicago with McDavid picking up a goal and assist and Leon Draisaitl scoring twice and adding a helper.
"We're not a team that flips people off the ice, but we'll have our thought process of who will play against [McDavid]," Evason said.
Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in net for the Wild, but the team will be without defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower-body injury).
Brodin will go on the team's next road trip, Evason said, and so will Andrej Sustr, whom the team recalled from the minors on Thursday morning.
Brandon Duhaime and Ryan Hartman, however, won't be on the trip. They're both out with upper-body injuries, although Evason mentioned Hartman has skated a couple of times.
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Nic Petan-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Alex Goligoski-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury
Key numbers:
3: Goals for Matt Boldy in his last three games.
5: Assists for Joel Eriksson Ek during a three-game assist streak.
9: More saves for Fleury and he'll surpass Tony Esposito for fourth most in NHL history.
14: Points for Kirill Kaprizov during his nine-game point streak.
14-4-1: Record for Fleury in his career vs. Edmonton.
About the Oilers:
McDavid leads the NHL in scoring with 41 points, while Draisaitl is tied for second with 36. Draisaitl has four goals in his last three games. They both have eight goals on the power play, which are more than anyone else in the league. Edmonton, however, hasn't had much success against the Wild in recent years. The Oilers have just eight wins in their last 28 matchups vs. the Wild.
