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NHL on NBCSN: Red Wings look for weekend sweep of Wild

Detroit Red Wings v Minnesota Wild

ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 21: Gustav Nyquist #14 of the Detroit Red Wings controls the puck against Marco Scandella #6 and Mikael Granlund #64 of the Minnesota Wild during the third period of the game on March 21, 2014 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. The Red Wings defeated the Wild 3-2. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Hannah Foslien

NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 campaign tonight when the Detroit Red Wings host the Minnesota Wild at Joe Louis Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also watch the game online.

The Detroit Red Wings are looking for a much-needed weekend sweep of the Minnesota Wild while the Wild are hoping to build on their wild card lead in the Western Conference.

Detroit’s 3-2 win on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center came thanks to the play of Gustav Nyquist and Brendan Smith. Nyquist continued his hot play scoring the game-winning goal. Smith had a power play goal and an assist on Nyquist’s tally as well as strong play in the closing minutes to hold down the lead.

Nyquist’s play has been more than impressive lately. In the past four games he has five goals. His 21 goals lead the team and have picked them up when guys like Johan Franzen (no goals in seven) and Tomas Tatar (one goal, one assist in 10 games) have cooled off.

The win was all the more important for the Red Wings because it moved them into the second wild card spot in the East. A win tonight would get them to leapfrog the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first wild card and help keep the heat off the hard-charging Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. Detroit has won four of the past five, two in a shootout.

Minnesota is in a weird state of comfort with how they’re doing. They have a four point lead on the Phoenix Coyotes for the first wild card out West, but the Dallas Stars are six back and playing well. The Wild have almost no shot to catch Colorado for third in the Central Division as the Avs have an 11 point lead.

All that means for the Wild is they have to take care of business and a berth in the postseason is likely theirs. Knocking off the Red Wings today would give them a six-point cushion and loosen the pressure. It would also help change up how things have been going lately.

The Wild are winless in seven of the past nine games but have three shootout losses and an overtime loss to New Jersey thrown in the mix. It’s all about points this time of year, so getting those points in losses is a good thing. That said, getting some wins would go a long way to securing a postseason berth.

On the upside, Ryan Suter has four points the past five games and doing that while playing the most minutes on the team makes his contributions huge. Getting a bit more out of deadline acquisition Matt Moulson (three goals in nine games) and Zach Parise (two goals in his past nine) would give them a needed boost.

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