Preview: The Minnesota Wild are gearing up for a good game against the explosive San Jose Sharks

It follows California’s road trip against the Minnesota Wild San Jose Sharks after last night’s win.

Sure, won the league last Anaheim Ducks Nothing much to write home about this season, but winning the last six games is certainly a nice place to be in the second half of December. Finishing third in the Central Division is also a nice little holiday gift for the Wild, and who would love to keep it that way by beating the Sharks in their home arena.

Wild at Sharks

When: 9:30 p.m. CT
Where: SAP Center
TV: BSN, BSWI, TSN5
Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM

When the Wild and the Sharks last met on Nov. 13, it was a very different time. The Wild were still in their early season slump, the Sharks looked promising with good offense, and the Sharks won it in a shootout. Now, of course, the Sharks have dropped to the bottom third of the standings and are on a three-game losing streak.

Erik Karlsson had one heck of a November and currently leads the Sharks in scoring, but has slowed over the last few games. Of course, slowing down means about a point per game in his bid for a third Norris Trophy, making him one of Minnesota’s most dangerous players tonight. Timo Meier is also one of the prospects with nine points in eight games.

The Sharks currently have the second best penalty kill, just behind Boston Bruins, which is a bit concerning for a team like the Wild, who like to score and often score on the power play. Predicted special teams to be what makes or breaks this game for both.

Anything can happen in hockey, so we can’t promise it will be a nice little win for the Wild tonight, but we sure hope it works out that way.

Designed Wild lineup

Kirill Kaprizov Sam Steel Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Hartman Frederick Gaudreau Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway Joel Eriksson Ek Mark Foligno
Mason Shaw Connor Dewar Ryan Reaves

Jake Middleton Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brod’s Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill Calen Addison

Filip Gustavsson wants to start online.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. While these lines haven’t been confirmed yet, they worked so well against the Ducks, who were pretty comfortable assuming that’s how they roll again.

Sam Steel has really started to thrive as a top line center, but that won’t be hard when you have Kaprizov and Zuccarello as your wingers. They’ve quietly become one of the best franchises in hockey this season, and you can almost always count on them to do something fun and spectacular. Only the best of the NHL’s third star of the week, Mats Zuccarello.

Brandon Duhaime is the only player on IR, but he is still dealing with an upper body injury.

Projected Sharks lineup

Timo Meier Nick Bonino Kevin Labanc
Matthew Nieto Logan Couture Alexander Barabanov
Noah Gregor Nico Sturm Yevgeny Svechnikov
Jonah Gadjovich Steven Lorentz Oskar Lindblom

Scott Harrington Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic Matt Benning
Mario Ferraro Radim Simek

James Reimer is expected to be the starting goaltender for the Sharks.

The Sharks’ offensive depth has suffered recently with Luke Kunin out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL and Tomas Hertl sitting out two games due to a lengthy suspension. Take these predictions with a grain of salt, as we can probably assume that the lines will go through a mixer trying to go toe-to-toe with Wilds’ high-yielding topline.

We went seven in a row and tonight’s outlook is good. We tried not to be too cocky just to be sure, but felt pretty confident in the Wild, for better or for worse.

The puck drops at 9:30pm CT.

Burning questions

Mats Zuccarello’s new streak?

Unfortunately, Zuccarello’s ten game point streak ended last night despite the Ducks’ win. It happens to the best and the question is not now if hell another tear but when and How long. Will he get one tonight to start the countdown all over again?

Will Ryan Reaves rekindle his old grudge against San Jose?

Back when he played Vegas Golden Knights, Reaves was the thorn in the side of the Sharks with 99 penalty minutes. It cooled off a bit when he left the division, but will tonight’s match restart the rivalry?

Special groups on display?

It will be interesting to see how the Wilds power play units fare against the Sharks star penalty killers. Can they break the PK and score, or will the second best in the league come out on top?