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Tonight, the Canadiens will face the Wild in Minnesota before heading to Chicago for a tilt against Connor Bedard and his Hawks. The Canadiens arrive in Minnesota having won their last three games on the road, dating back to November 29th in Columbus, but the Wild has won its last four games at home and there can only be one winner. The Habs would do well to be ready from the start as the Wild are a consistent team that has scored 29 goals in the first frame this season, 28 in the second and 32 in the third.

Right now, John Hynes’ team stands four points out of a playoff spot and that could down to a few factors. Their goaltending hasn’t been great with Fleury having a .892 save percentage and Gustaffson being on .906. Meanwhile, their point leaders are Mats Zuccarello and Kiril Kaprizov with 28 and 27 points respectively, far from the league’s top players production and their penalty kill is dead last in the league at home with a 70.8% success rate.

The two teams met each other once so far this season and the Wild came out on top 5-2 at the Bell Centre. Kaprizov and Zuccarello led the charge that night, putting three points on the board each. In the last 16 meetings between the two sides, the Wild has got a 15-1-0 record and has won the last six duels and the last eight games played at the Xcel Energy Center against the Habs. Tonight, will be the 31st game they compete in, and the odds seem to favor the Wild big time.

In the Wild’s last game, Kaprizov’s scored his 7th overtime winner breaking the franchise record and he also has 11 overtime points which is second in team history, two points behind Mikko Koivu. In net, Marc-André Fleury signed his 549th career win and he needs two more to tie Patrick Roy in second place for most wins in league history. The starter has yet to be confirmed for the Wild so far but Samuel Montembeault will be in the net for Montreal which probably means Cayden Primeau will be taking on the Hawks tomorrow night since Jake Allen has said he was unlikely to play again prior to the Christmas break.

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