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The Minnesota Wild will play the Dallas Stars Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild (5-10) is coming an anemic 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks Thursday while the Stars (7-3-6) are coming off a 2-1 victory over the Canucks Friday in Dallas.
The Series
This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams this season. Last season, the Stars won the first three games before the Wild took the fourth and final matchup. Steve Ott led the Stars and Andrew Brunette led the Wild with three goals each last season.
Injury Report
Stars leading goal scorer James Neal did not play Friday with a groin injury, but is listed as day-to-day. Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen were activated from injured reserve Wednesday and are expected to play.
Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson is still recovering from an upper body injury. He is close to returning, but has not yet been involved in a lot of contact drills in practice. Pierre-Marc Bouchard is still out with the concussion-like symptoms. Eric Belanger left Thursday’s game wtih an upper body injury. He did not practice Friday and is unlikely to play Saturday.
Stars Player to Watch
Brad Richards. The veteran center has a seven-game points streak, in which he has 10 points (three goals and seven assists). He leads the Stars with 19 points (six goals and 13 assists), while playing in 14 of the team’s 16 games.
Guaranteed Goal
Martin Havlat. The Wild’s big free agent acquisition has just one goal in 13 games. He has been criticized for his lack of production. While his linemates have failed to capitalize on his playmaking, he has passed up shots from good scoring areas. That should change Saturday and expect him to have his best game as a member of the Wild.
Final Score Prediction
Stars 3, Wild 1. The Wild has struggled to score goals and the Stars are coming off a home game the previous night. The Wild need to get off to a fast start and put the Stars in catch-up mode early. The Wild has not that often this season.
