The Minnesota Wild know how to win on the road, while the Carolina Hurricanes tend to protect home ice well.
That sets up an intriguing clash Saturday night at Raleigh, N.C., in the teams’ first meeting of the season.
Minnesota has won four of its last five after playing well against some good competition.
“That’s what we talked with the team about is getting in these style of games against top teams,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “The details matter and staying consistent in our game matters up or down.”
A 4-3 shootout win at the Washington Capitals on Thursday night helped the Wild improve their NHL-best road record to 14-3-3. It marked Minnesota’s second straight road win that extended beyond regulation, and the outcome gave the team a league-leading 31 road points.
The Hurricanes hold a 14-4-0 record in home games.
Carolina has won just two of its last five games (2-2-1), but is riding momentum after Thursday’s 3-1 victory at the reigning champion Florida Panthers.
“Let’s keep it going,” Martin Necas said.
The Hurricanes are looking to cash in on strong efforts with two home games scheduled for this weekend.
“I thought it was a solid 60-minute game, which we’ve played the last little stretch here,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We just haven’t been getting that one play here or there to push us over the top and (Thursday) we did.”
The Wild have expended a lot of energy lately. They’ve acknowledged that they’ve been taxed at times.
“You could see in overtime we had no more energy,” said forward Marco Rossi, who tied the game in the third. “We’re playing so good right now. We just want to keep winning.”
It will be worth assessing if there’s wear and tear on the Wild against Carolina’s generally high-paced approach. Brock Faber logged almost 31 1/2 minutes of ice time Thursday for his second-highest total of the season. Wild teammate Jonas Brodin had a season-high 27:15 of ice time.
Mats Zuccarello has compiled 34 points in 39 career games against the Hurricanes. On the other side, Sebastian Aho has racked up 16 points in 14 outings against the Wild.
The Hurricanes have recently altered their line combinations. Some of it tends to be related to matchups, while there’s also an attempt to get winger Andrei Svechnikov to excel in even-strength situations.
“Maybe jump-start (Svechnikov),” Brind’Amour said. “We’re trying to get him to be the player he is. If we get him going, we’re in good shape.”
Svechnikov hasn’t scored in the past seven games and has only three points over his last 11 contests.
The Wild will likely go with Filip Gustavsson in goal after he had Thursday night off.
Carolina’s Juha Jaaska could make his home debut after appearing in his first NHL game Thursday. He had 8:21 of ice time, winning four of five faceoffs.
Minnesota is 12-5-3 in its last 20 matchups with the Hurricanes.
–Field Level Media
