The Minnesota Wild will aim to continue their run of dominance against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday when the teams meet again in Canada’s capital city.
Marcus Foligno scored two goals and Kirill Kaprizov tallied 2:02 into overtime in Minnesota’s 5-4 win over Ottawa on Nov. 2. The victory was the Wild’s ninth in a row against the Senators.
Kevin Fiala had two assists in that contest and netted two of Minnesota’s four first-period goals during Sunday’s 7-3 romp over the Edmonton Oilers. Fiala also added an assist to help the Wild snap a two-game losing streak in the opener of a four-game trek.
“It’s always important to start a road trip the right way and we did,” said Fiala, who has recorded 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) over his past 18 games.
“But this one we’re gonna let go (on Monday). We’re going to wake up and we’re gonna look forward and I feel strongly we can win all four, but we’ll take it game by game.”
The Wild certainly are capable of stringing together victories given their high-octane offense. Minnesota is averaging an NHL third-best 3.81 goals per game entering play on Monday.
“We don’t feel we’re an offensive team, we feel we’re a well-rounded, two-way hockey team,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We don’t want to get into track meets, we don’t want to get into a rush game. That’s not who we are. We talk about it all the time. It’s grit before skill, and if we do that, then our skill will show. If we try to do it the other way, then the skill doesn’t come out.”
Mats Zuccarello collected a goal and an assist on Sunday for his fourth straight multi-point performance and 11th in his past 14 games.
Kaprizov, who leads Minnesota in goals (23), assists (39) and points (62), carries a five-game point streak (four goals, five assists) into Tuesday’s encounter.
Kaapo Kahkonen made 30 saves to improve to 8-1-1 in his past 10 starts.
The Senators have mustered just 12 goals during their past seven contests (2-4-1), including a total of three in the first two outings of their four-game homestand. Ottawa dropped a 3-2 overtime game to the Boston Bruins on Saturday and a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers the following day.
Tim Stutzle scored in both games for the Senators.
“He looks confident, has the puck a lot, he’s shotting, he’s learning to play within the game,” coach D.J. Smith said of the 20-year-old Stutzle. “His detail of his game is getting better. Offensively, he looks dangerous.”
While Stutzle’s level of play is trending in the right direction, Ottawa remains without leading goal-scorer Josh Norris, fellow forward Drake Batherson and minutes-eating defenseman Thomas Chabot.
“I think everyone has to step up a little bit here and there,” Stutzle said. “I think a lot of guys are doing a really good job playing against one of the best players every night. I want to create most of the offense and D.J. has given me the confidence to put me out there in almost every O-zone draw, so I try to give it back to him when I can.”
Chabot is expected to make his return against the Wild after being sidelined by a clean hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on Feb. 13.
–Field Level Media
