Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. San Jose

The essentials

ST. PAUL --The Wild wraps up a four-game homestand on Tuesday night when it hosts the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota will be
without standout defenseman
Matt Dumba, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Dumba's loss is a big one; he leads all NHL defensemen with 12 goals this season.
But the injury news isn't all bad for the Wild.
Mikko Koivu is expected to return after a four-game absence for a lower-body injury. Jason Zucker, who missed Saturday's game because of an illness, will also return to the lineup.

Minnesota has won two of the first three games of the homestand, earning blowout wins against Montreal and Florida before a hard-fought loss to the Flames, a game which featured three fights.
The Wild will also try to even the season series against the Sharks after losing 4-3 in San Jose on Nov. 6.
The Sharks have won four consecutive games and begin the day Monday tied with the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division with 41 points, five back of the Flames for first.

Overall, the Sharks have won six of their past seven games, including a 7-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday at the United Center.
San Jose's current hot stretch coincides with a five-game point streak for defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has six assists and is a plus-6 during that span.
The Sharks have eight players with at least 20 points this season, including Logan Couture and Brent Burns, who are tied for the team lead with 34 points.
Joe Pavelski has a team-high 20 goals while Timo Meier is enjoying a breakout season with 18 goals and 15 assists.
Goaltender Martin Jones has seen a bulk of the starts between the posts, going 13-7-3 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in 24 games.
Jones allowed three goals on four shots in 14 minutes of action Sunday in Chicago before giving way to Aaron Dell, who stopped all 16 shots he faced the rest of the way to earn the victory.

Home sweet home

Minnesota completes its four-game homestand Tuesday. Per NHL Stats, dating back to the start of last season, the Wild is 37-11-10 in 58-regular season games at Xcel Energy Center, with only seven regulation losses in the building since Dec. 27, 2017 (26-7-8). The 11 regulation losses since the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign are tied for the fewest in the League (Winnipeg).
Minnesota ranks T-2nd in the NHL in SHG (4), fifth in goals per game (3.65) and T-6th in goals scored on home ice (62) this season.
Mikael Granlund (5-14=19) and Ryan Suter (1-18=19) lead the Wild in scoring at Xcel Energy Center. Eric Staal leads the Wild with 10 goals scored at home.

Against the west

The Wild is 13-9-1 against Western Conference teams this season, including a 7-6-1 record against the Pacific Division. Minnesota ranks second in the NHL for most wins against the West (Calgary-16). The Wild ranks T-3rd in the League for most wins against the Pacific, second T-2nd amongst Western Conference teams (Dallas - 9; Vegas - 7).
Zach Parise ranks second in the NHL in PPG (5) and T-8th in goals (10) against Western Conference opponents and all three of Jason Zucker's GWG have been scored against a Western team (T-5th).

Series notes

2018-19: Minnesota fell in its first season meeting against San Jose, 4-3, at SAP Center at San Jose (11/6)… Koivu led the Wild with two assists… Dumba, LW Zach Parise and D Jared Spurgeon each scored a goal…G Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves…LW Marcus Sorensen (1-2=3) led the Sharks with three points… Burns (0-2=2) and RW Barclay Goodrow (1-1=2) tallied two points apiece… Jones stopped 23-of-26 shots.
WILD LEADERS: Koivu leads Minnesota with 22 points (10-12=22) in 42 matches vs. the Sharks…D Ryan Suter owns 22 points (2-20=22) in 45 contests…C Eric Staal has 21 points (13-8=21) in 20 career games… LW Zach Parise owns 20 points (9-11=20) in 22 games.
WILD GOALIES:Dubnyk is 10-9-2 with a 2.94 GAA and a .906 SV% in 21 starts against San Jose…G Alex Stalock is 1-0-0 with a 2.84 GAA and a .912 SV% in one career start.
SHARKS LEADERS: C Joe Thornton leads San Jose with 41 points (12-29=41) in 46 contests vs. the Wild… Pavelski has 32 points (16-16=32) in 39 matches… Burns has 18 points (5-13=18) in 23 contests… Couture owns 15 points (7-8=15) in 27 games.
SHARKS GOALIES:Jones is 3-5-2 with a 2.89 GAA, a .895 SV% and one shutout in 11 games (10 starts) against Minnesota… Dell made four saves in relief in his only career action vs. the Wild (4/7/18).

Did you know?

The Wild is 9-1-1 in its last 11 contests against San Jose at Xcel Energy Center.
Related:
Koivu in, Dumba out for Wild on Tuesday against San Jose