The Calgary Flames are in Minnesota looking to rebound from an underwhelming performance against the last placed Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Standing in the way will be a Wild team that is desperate for points as they're currently just one point ahead of the Avalanche for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
With Nashville distancing themselves for the top wild card spot the Wild know they're in a dog fight for the final spot and that there is little room for error.
The good news for Wild is that, while the Flames have played better of late, they're facing a bottom feeder team that is starting a goaltender who has played one game - albeit a pretty good one - in the last year and a half.
We'll see if they can take advantage of that.
LINEUPS
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland Bouma - Backlund - Frolik Bennett - Colborne - Jooris Bollig - Stajan - Hathaway
Giordano - Engelland Brodie - Hamilton Jokipakka - Nakladal
Backstrom
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Zucker - Koivu - Coyle Parise - Granlund - Jones Niederreiter - Haula - Fontaine Porter - Stoll - Schroeder
Suter - Surgeon Scandella - Brodin Reilly - Dumba
Dubnyk
Notes
1) Niklas Backstrom has played all but one game with the Wild during his NHL career so playing them, especially in Minnesota, will be emotional for him. Add in the fact he's playing for a contract next year and he will certainly be motivated to show well and beat his old team.
2) Sam Bennett has had a better year than a lot of people give him credit for but he has been very quiet of late. He has just two points in his last seven games and has recorded just one scoring chance in the last three. He needs to be better.
3) Since the trade deadline the Flames have controlled a larger share of 5 v 5 shot attempts than the Wild and also have a better goal differential in that game state. This game is more even than their records would suggest.
The game is at 8:00 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet West and FS-North.
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