Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Ottawa

The essentials

OTTAWA -- The Wild continues its four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon when it faces the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
The game begins shortly after 12 p.m. CT.
Minnesota is looking to build on its 4-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena. Jared Spurgeon had a goal and two assists for the Wild, Devan Dubnyk made 38 saves and Zach Parise scored the game-winning goal four minutes into the third period.
The Wild has won its past two games away from home; Minnesota won 3-1 in Winnipeg last Saturday.
The game marks the second and final meeting of the regular season between the clubs. The Wild won 6-4 in St. Paul on Nov. 21, taking a 4-1 lead in the game before watching the Senators storm back with three consecutive goals in the third period to tie the game at 4. Eric Staal scored the game-winning goal with 5:58 left in regulation and Eric Fehr added a late empty-net goal to ice the game.

Ottawa is in the midst of a three-game homestand which began Wednesday in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks and continues Sunday versus the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Senators have lost each of their past six games dating back to Dec. 21, posting an 0-5-1 record during that span.
Mark Stone leads the Sens' offense with 19 goals and 45 assists in 41 games this season. Matt Duchene has 16 goals and 40 points while defenseman Thomas Chabot was named to his first career All-Star Game earlier this week with 10 goals and 38 points.
Goaltender Craig Anderson is 14-13-3 in 31 games played, boasting a 3.58 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
The early start time is due in part to the game being part of the NHL's European Game of the Week. The contest will be show in prime time across the Atlantic.

Easy Parise

Zach Parise tallied the game-winning goal and an assist in Thursday's win at Toronto for his ninth multi-point game this season. The two points also extended his point streak to four games (3-3=6).
The 34-year-old owns 35 points (18-17=35) in 38 games this season, including 12 points (5-7=12) in the last 11 games. Parise recorded 24 points (15-9=24) in 42 games last season.
He leads the Wild in goals, ranks T-1st in PPG (6) and multi-point games (9), second in scoring, shots on goal and plus/minus rating and T-4th in assists.

Surging Spurgeon

Jared Spurgeon tied his career high with three points (1-2=3) and blocked a team-high five shots in Thursday's win. It marked the second time this season and fifth time in his career he has tallied three points in a game. He leads the team in shorthanded TOI, ranks third in TOI/game (22:50), fourth in blocked shots (58) and T-4th in assists.
Spurgeon is the franchise leader in goals scored by a defenseman and ranks T-1st in GWG with Brent Burns (13).
The Edmonton native owns the fewest penalty minutes amongst NHL defensemen that have played at least 500 games since 2010-11 (fourth fewest overall in that span amongst active players).

Series notes

All-Time Wild Record: 9-9-4 (5-5-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 4-4-2 at Ottawa)
2018-19: Minnesota won its first season meeting against Ottawa, 6-4, at Xcel Energy Center (11/21)…RW Mikael Granlund
led the Wild with three assists…D Matt Dumba (2-0=2), LW Jordan Greenway (1-1=2), C Eric Staal (2-0=2) and D Ryan Suter (0-2=2) each tallied two points…G Devan Dubnyk started the contest, stopping 22-of-26 shots in 53 minutes…G Alex Stalock earned the win, making one save in relief…D Christian Jaros (1-1=2) and LW Zack Smith (0-2=2) registered two points apiece…D Thomas Chabot, C Chris Tierney and C Colin White scored a goal apiece…G Craig Anderson stopped 28-of-33 shots faced.
WILD LEADERS: Staal leads the Wild with 46 points (19-27=46) in 48 matches vs. the Senators…LW Zach Parise owns 27 points (9-18=27) in 30 contests…Suter has 13 points (4-9=13) in 17 games…C Eric Fehr owns 11 points (5-6=11) in 23 matches.
WILD GOALIES: Dubnyk is 2-1-1 with a 2.64 GAA and a .897 SV% in six games (five starts) against Ottawa…Stalock is 5-1-1 with a 2.44 GAA and a .918 SV% in seven games (six starts).
SENATORS LEADERS: RW Bobby Ryan leads the Senators with 25 points (11-14=25) in 30 games vs. the Wild…C Matt Duchene has 20 points (6-14=20) in 42 contests…LW Mikkel Boedker owns 14 points (6-8=14) in 28 games.
SENATORS GOALIES:Anderson is 6-10-3 with a 3.09 GAA, a .897 SV% and one shutout in 20 games (19 starts) against Minnesota…G Mike McKenna and G Marcus Hogberg have not faced the Wild.

Did you know?

Minnesota has earned points in nine of its last 12 contests against Ottawa (7-3-2) dating back to Oct. 11, 2011, including a 3-1-2 record in its last six games at Canadian Tire Centre.