ST. PAUL - The Kraken will face a third straight motivated NHL postseason contender Monday night to finish the four-game road trip. And it's the second first-place team they have faced in seven nights. Minnesota moved into first place in the Central Division Saturday after months of chasing Dallas (the first foe on Seattle's road swing). The Wild scored late in a tight game against lowly Chicago, finding a way to win before a raucous sellout crowd of 19,312. Expect high-level noise Monday night.
Minnesota is 14-1-4 in its last 19 games and doing it in the last seven games (5-1-2) without young star scorer Kirill Kaprizov, out with a lower-body injury suffered March 8. Twenty-one-year-old left wing Matt Boldy has picked up the scoring, notching eight goals in the eight games without Kaprizov, and has 29 assists in just his second NHL season. Norway-born veteran Mats Zuccarello (22 G, 42 A) is another Wild forward who can generate scoring chances.
The Wild defense is rock-solid with a goalie tandem putting up strong stats. Filip Gustavsson, sporting a .932 save percentage on the season, started in goal Saturday for his 19th win. Future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury (23 wins, .907 save percentage) is the probable starter since the Wild have alternated each goalie start since mid-March. Saturday's 3-1 win was the 26th game of the season in which the Wild gave up one or no goals. Only league-leading Boston has more (28) and the Wild surrender an average of 2.05 goals per game.
3 Game Essentials | Kraken (40-24-8) at Wild (42-22-9) | 5 p.m.
With five of six possible standings points on road trip, Kraken look to add to the total against brand-new first-place Minnesota