The Minnesota Wild have one more chance to get a victory before they leave town.

The Wild have dropped the first two games of their homestand, falling 4-3 in overtime against the New York Islanders and losing 5-2 against the struggling New Jersey Devils.

Next comes the finale of the homestand. The Wild, who have lost four of their last five (1-2-2), will face off against a Central Division foe when the Winnipeg Jets visit Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno shared he and his teammates are not stressing out too much. The team is getting good looks at the net, he said, but pucks have not gone in at the usual rate.

“This is just sometimes how it goes,” Foligno said. “And you’ve got to fight through it.”

Meanwhile, Winnipeg will go for its fourth win in a row. The Jets are coming off a 5-4 triumph over the Islanders, which followed a 4-3 victory over the Devils and a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele lead Winnipeg with 54 points apiece. Both have 22 goals and 32 assists.

Gabriel Vilardi is third with 41 points (18 G, 23 A) and Josh Morrissey ranks fourth with 37 points (8 G, 29 A).

Winnipeg has scored 14 goals in its past three games, but injuries will test its defense.

On Wednesday, Jets coach Scott Arniel provided updates for three defensemen. He said Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller and Neal Pionk all are week-to-week because of injuries.

“So, three defensemen down,” Arniel said.

Isaak Phillips and Elias Salomonsson will get an opportunity. The Jets recalled Salomonsson on Wednesday and had him fly to Minnesota.

Arniel said the young blue-liners would get a chance to showcase their skills.

“At the end of the day, even losing other guys, the depth of what we had, with our schedule and how heavy it’s been, and not having Fleury and Millsy around, it’s a grind,” Arniel said. “When we get these three (games) in four (days) and four in six, it’s nice to put new bodies in there, fresh legs in there, and we can’t really do that.

“So, look to the kids coming in, getting an opportunity. Hopefully they can step up and help us.”

The Jets defense will try to get in the way of the Wild’s attack, which includes top scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who has 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists). Matt Boldy is second on the team with 50 points (27 G, 23 A).

Winnipeg’s top goaltender is three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, who is having a tough season at 11-12-4 with a 2.75 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage. Eric Comrie serves as the backup and is 7-9-1 with a 3.33 GAA and an .884 save percentage.

Against the rival Wild, Hellebuyck is 16-10-3 with a 2.55 GAA and a .918 save percentage in 32 games. In three matchups, Comrie is 0-2-0 with a 4.20 GAA and an .866 save percentage.

For Minnesota, Filip Gustavsson is 14-9-5 with a 2.53 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Fellow netminder Jesper Wallstedt is 12-3-4 with a 2.42 GAA and a .923 save percentage.

When facing the Jets, Gustavsson is 4-2-2 with a 2.22 GAA and a .925 save percentage in eight games. Wallstedt is 2-1-0 with a 2.70 GAA and a .902 save percentage in three meetings.

–Field Level Media

With a new man in charge, the Columbus Blue Jackets have engineered some immediate success.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks remain mired in an extended run of futility.

After winning Rick Bowness’ first game as coach, the host Blue Jackets can record a third straight victory by handing the Canucks their ninth consecutive defeat Thursday night.

One day after coach Dean Evason was fired, the 70-year-old Bowness stepped behind the Columbus bench and watched his new club post a 5-3 home victory over Calgary on Tuesday. Charlie Coyle and Zach Werenski each recorded three points and Boone Jenner notched a late tiebreaker for the Blue Jackets, who have won two straight after losing four in a row.

“You want to learn about each other as quickly as you can and what (Bowness) expects of us and the other way around,” Coyle said.

“It’s always nice when it goes your way, you get the win right away and everyone feels good. And then you move forward, learn some things and then go on to the next one.”

Werenski has eight goals with 12 assists during his last 12 games. Meanwhile, Coyle has three goals with an assist in the last two games after being blanked in his previous five contests.

Columbus will now try to win back-to-back home contests for the first time since a three-game winning streak there that spanned Oct. 29-Nov. 13.

“We have to take care of business and string together some wins here in our building,” Coyle said.

Werenski, Jenner and Coyle were all held without a point during the Blue Jackets’ 4-3 loss at Vancouver on Nov. 8.

Since that victory, Vancouver has won just eight times in 30 games. With Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at Ottawa, the Canucks are 0-5-0 entering the final game of this six-game road trip. Their current eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) is tied for the club’s longest since a record 10-game skid early in the 1997-98 season.

“I feel like we have been showing up, working hard, but we’ve just been on the wrong side of way too many games,” Vancouver star Brock Boeser, a six-time 20-plus goal scorer whose most recent tally came on Nov. 28, told Sportsnet.

Elias Pettersson had the lone score Tuesday for the Canucks, who have totaled 16 goals during the last eight games. Pettersson has recorded four goals in the last six games to take the team lead with 28 points but remains frustrated with the team’s current state.

“It (stinks). I hate losing,” said Pettersson, who posted an assist against the Blue Jackets in November.

“The message is to try to do whatever to get the next win.”

Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen (3.34 goals-against average) made 29 saves versus Columbus earlier this season and stopped 38 of 40 shots at Ottawa on Tuesday. With Thatcher Demko on injured reserve (lower body), it’s possible Nikita Tolopilo, who made 35 saves during Monday’s 6-3 loss at Montreal, could get another start here for the Canucks.

Jet Greaves (2.72 GAA) has stopped 54 of 59 shots while winning the last two games in net for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins, who has made just one start in the last 11 games and lost four consecutive outings for Columbus, stopped 20 of 24 shots at Vancouver in November.

–Field Level Media

The San Jose Sharks have been one of the NHL’s best surprises this season.

After finishing the 2024-25 season with the league’s worst record and 52 points, the Sharks have flipped the script as they have 49 points through 45 games and entered Wednesday in playoff position in the Western Conference.

San Jose will be looking to use its youthful offense to it advantage on Thursday against the host Washington Capitals.

Macklin Celebrini, the driving force of San Jose’s offense, has made his case as a contender for the NHL’s Hart Memorial Trophy through the first half of the season.

A rare sight was seen on Sunday, though, as the second-year center was held pointless in a 7-2 loss to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, marking the end of his 13-game point streak (nine goals, 18 assists).

Celebrini, the top overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, has been held pointless only 10 times across 45 games this season, collecting 24 goals and 46 assists in total. The 19-year-old’s 70 points has him 38 points ahead of the Sharks’ next-best total with Alexander Wennberg (10 goals, 22 assists) and Tyler Toffoli (13, 19) each tallying 32 coming into Thursday’s contest.

San Jose’s three-game win streak also came to an end on Sunday, with Collin Graf and Wennberg both finding the back of the net for the losing side.

Michael Misa, the second-overall draft selection in 2025, played in his first NHL game since Nov. 1 after the 18-year-old represented Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“It doesn’t matter the opposition,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky told reporters when asked about the Sharks’ struggles against Vegas this season. “Listen, we’ve got to play a lot better in a lot of different areas and learn how to win consistently, and play the right way consistently at the end of the day.”

Consistency has been a key area missing from the Capitals so far this season.

Washington hasn’t been able to string together a run of back-to-back victories since it capped off a six-game win streak against these same Sharks with a 7-1 demolition back on Dec. 3.

The Capitals will have that opportunity on Thursday after they took down the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday.

Ethen Frank buried a pair of goals in the third period to force the extra frame, before Connor McMichael scored on a rebound with 39 seconds left in overtime.

Rasmus Sandin picked up an assist on all three Capitals’ goals, while Logan Thompson compiled 24 saves in the victory.

Washington’s most recent win was extra impressive given the fact that Tom Wilson (lower body), Pierre-Luc Dubois (abdomen) and Jakob Chychrun (illness) were absent from the lineup.

“We’re battling through some things, missing some key guys, but we showed a ton of character to fight in that third period,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said following the comeback victory. “You could tell right from the first two shifts. …You never know how it’s going to end up, but I knew we were going to put our foot on the gas and throw the kitchen sink at them.”

The Sharks will commence a long road stretch on Thursday, with nine of their next 10 games away from home.

–Field Level Media

Montreal Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier agreed to a two-year, $5 million contract extension on Wednesday.

The deal represents an upgrade for Texier, who signed with the Canadiens on a one-year, $1 million contract on Nov. 23. His new deal begins next season and spans through the 2027-28 campaign.

Texier, 26, has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 25 games with the Canadiens. He had just one assist in eight games this season with the St. Louis Blues before being released on Nov. 22.

Texier, who will represent his native France in the upcoming Winter Olympics, has totaled 107 points (47 goals, 60 assists) and 102 penalty minutes in 265 career games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Blues and Canadiens. He was selected by the Blue Jackets in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft.

–Field Level Media