The Minnesota Wild will wrap up a three-game road trip Wednesday night before heading home for Thanksgiving.
They would love to bring a winning streak to the table.
Minnesota will go for its sixth consecutive victory when it faces off against the host Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild are 9-1-1 in November and are coming off back-to-back shutout wins in which they outscored their opponents 8-0.
“Let’s keep the streak going,” said Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
The Wild’s latest win, a 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, marked their league-leading fifth shutout of the season. Wallstedt has posted three shutouts and fellow goaltender Filip Gustavsson has recorded two.
Wild coach John Hynes said both netminders have shined this season.
“We’ve gotten excellent goaltending,” Hynes said. “Both guys have deserved the shutout. But from a defensive standpoint, we’re committed in that area. So I think strong defensive play combined with excellent goaltending is a good recipe.”
The Wild will take on the Blackhawks who are on a three-game losing streak. They have been outscored 13-5 during that span.
Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said he felt encouraged by his players’ latest effort. Chicago fell short 1-0 at home against the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche but controlled the puck for much of the game.
“If we repeat that performance, we’re winning lots of games,” Blashill said. “We did an excellent job in our structure, an excellent job of (fixing) some of the things we talked about (before the game).”
Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 22 games. Tyler Bertuzzi ranks second with 19 points (12 goals, 7 assists), and three players are tied for third in scoring with 15 points apiece.
The Blackhawks could turn to Spencer Knight or Arvid Soderblom in net. Knight is 7-5-3 with a 2.38 goals-against average in 15 starts, and Soderblom is 3-3-1 with a 3.46 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage in seven starts.
Both netminders have brief experience against Wild in their careers. Knight has made one appearance, stopping all six shots he faced in one period. Soderblom has faced the Wild in two games, and he is 0-2-0 with 3.55 goals-against average and an .889 save
Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson agreed with his coach that the players should remain confident despite coming off a 1-0 loss to one of the best teams in the league.
“We can be both happy with the process (and) not satisfied with the result,” Dickinson said. “It sucks, but, for the most part, that’s a lot of good clips that we can go back and watch and be proud of.”percentage.
Minnesota’s top scorer is Kirill Kaprizov, who has 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 23 games. Matt Boldy is next with 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists), and Marcus Johansson rounds out the top three scorers with 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists).
In net, Gustavsson is 6-7-2 with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 15 starts. Wallstedt is 6-0-2 with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage in eight starts.
Gustavsson has faced the Blackhawks six times in his career, and he is 5-0-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Wallstedt posted a shutout win and stopped all 24 shots he faced in his only career appearance against Chicago.
-Field Level Media
