The Preds’ homestand continues with a meetup with longtime Central Division rivals the Minnesota Wild. It’s a bad January for the Wild, as they’ve lost Kirill Kaprizov to LTIR — he hasn’t played since right before the Christmas break. They’ve put together a few wins without him, but they’ve also had some losses of late.
Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi are tied for the scoring lead in Kaprizov’s absence, with 39 points and 17 goals each. Mats Zuccarello has also been a regular contributor on offense. Still, without their dynamic star, the Wild have had to rely more on their superb defense, as well as the strong goaltending they’ve been getting from Filip Gustavsson and Marc-André Fleury.