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The Minnesota Wild continue a four-game homestand Wednesday against the Boston Bruins.
The Wild (8-12-2) is coming off a 3-2 win over the Islanders on Friday and the Bruins (11-8-4) are coming off a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
The Series
This is the only meeting of the season between the two teams this season. The last time the two teams played was a 4-3 Wild victory on Oct. 11 in the Wild’s season opener last season. Eric Belanger had two goals for the Wild and Marc Savard had two goals for the Bruins. Niklas Backstrom earned the win for the Wild.
Injury Report
For the Wild, Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion), Brent Burns (concussion), Martin Havlat (hamstring) and Petr Sykora (concussion) are unlikely to play. Chuck Kobasew (upper-body) is expected to return after missing four games.
For the Bruins, Tim Thomas (hand) is likely to dress, but not play.
Bruins Player to Watch
Patrice Bergeron. The center leads the Bruins in points with 18, seven goals and 11 assists. He is also is one of the hottest player in the league with 10 points in the last nine games.
Guaranteed Goal
Eric Belanger. The center had two goals in last season’s meeting and is off to his best start as a member of the Wild. He has not scored in awhile, but should be able to get back on track in this game.
Final Score Prediction
Bruins 3, Wild 2. The last time the Wild had four days off between games was its worst performance of the season against the Vancouver Canucks at the Xcel Energy Center. The Canucks were playing without a majority of its NHL players and its starting goaltender. The Bruins are healthy for the first time this season. The Wild will need to shake off any rust and play with a lot of energy from the first drop of the puck.
