Preview: Wild at Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The Wild is on island time tonight, heading to Elmont, New York to challenge the Islanders after falling to the Rangers in Manhattan on Wednesday. The Wild, desperately clinging to every possible point in the Playoff race, has bounced between the first and second Wild Card spots multiple times in just the last day as St. Louis and Minnesota battle for the higher ground.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Friday, April 4th at 6:30 p.m. CT
• Where: UBS Center (Elmont, New York)
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild at Islanders

Wild Record: 41-28-7, 89 points, 5th in Central Division

Islanders Record: 32-32-10, 74 points, 6th in Metropolitan Division

2024-25 Series Record: 0-0-1

All-Time Wild Record: 15-15-5 (6-8-2 at New York)

This Season on Wild vs. Islanders

The Wild defeated the Islanders, 6-3, in the series-opening game in St. Paul (2/8).

LW Matt Boldy led Minnesota with three points (2-1=3). D Jared Spurgeon notched two assists (0-2=2). G Filip Gustavsson saved 32-of-35 shots faced to earn the victory.

C Brock Nelson (1-1=2), C Kyle Palmieri (1- 1=2) and RW Maxim Tsyplakov (0-2=2) each had two points. G Ilya Sorokin stopped 27-of-32 shots faced for New York.

Last Time Out

The Minnesota Wild fell to the New York Rangers 5-4 in overtime on Wednesday night. C Gustav Nyquist, D Brock Faber, LW Marcus Johansson (1-2=3) and C Marco Rossi were the goal scorers for Minnesota.

Wild Leaders Against Islanders

• LW Marcus Johansson leads Minnesota with 23 points (3- 20=23) in 41 career games against the Islanders
• RW Mats Zuccarello owns 20 points (5-15=20) in 39 matches
• Nyquist has 13 points (4-9=13) in 27 games
• C Joel Eriksson Ek (5-5=10 in 11 games) and Spurgeon (3-7=10 in 20 games) own 10 points each

Islanders Leaders Against Wild

• Palmieri leads the Islanders with 15 points (6-9=15) in 23 career games against the Wild
• C Bo Horvat owns 14 points (9-5=14) in 24 matches
• LW Anders Lee has 13 points (7-6=13) in 19 contests
• D Tony DeAngelo has 11 points (2-9=11) in 12 matches

To view recent transactions, visit wild.com/transactions.

On the Mend

Joel Eriksson Ek: lower-body injury (19 games missed)

Kirill Kaprizov: lower-body injury (26 games missed)

Connections

• Minnesota President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin tallied 80 points (39-41=80) and 128 PIM in 142 games with the Islanders in two seasons (2007-09)
• Spurgeon was drafted by New York in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Draft (156th overall)
• Minnesota Assistant Coach Jack Capuano served as Head Coach of the Islanders for parts of seven seasons (2010-17)
• Islanders Special Assignment Coach Jacques Lemaire was the first Head Coach in Wild history and posted a record of 293-255-108 in 656 games over eight seasons (2000-09). He is Minnesota’s all-time leader in games coached and victories and was the recipient of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2003
• Lee hails from Edina and played high school hockey at Edina and St. Thomas Academy
• Nelson is from Warroad
• RW Hudson Fasching is from Apple Valley and played three seasons at the University of Minnesota (2013-16)
• D Mike Reilly played three seasons at the University of Minnesota (2012-15) and collected 18 points (4-14=18) in 84 games in parts of three seasons with Minnesota (2015-18)
• D Scott Perunovich is from Hibbing and played three seasons (2017-20) at the University of Minnesota - Duluth

Fast Facts

• The Wild has won seven consecutive games against the Islanders and is 10-2-1 in the last 13 meetings overall

For more information on today's matchup, check out the game notes below.