NBCSN’s coverage of the 2020-21 NHL season continues with Wednesday’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. Ducks-Wild stream coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Meeting for the second time in three days, Minnesota seeks to beat Anaheim a fourth consecutive time. On Monday night, Cam Talbot stopped 24 of 25 shots, while defenseman Ryan Suter and center Nick Bjugstad scored goals in a 2-1 win. The victory was Minnesota’s ninth straight at home, a new franchise record.
Minnesota, which holds the longest home win streak by any club this season, achieved the feat after three teams posted a similar run of at least that length in 2019-20 (Tampa: 11-0-0, Vancouver: 9- 0-0 and St. Louis: 9-0-0).
What has been working for the Wild? Rookie contributions is the obvious answer. The Wild boast two contenders for the Calder Trophy this season with goalie Kaapo Kahkonen (12 wins) and forward Kirill Kaprizov (25 points – leads team).
Zach Parise will miss the game after being placed on the NHL’s COVID protocols list.
One bright spot for the Ducks in Monday’s loss was forward Troy Terry’s goal in the second period to extend his point streak to four games. Terry has five points (2G-3A) during the streak.
While this season seems to be lost for the Ducks, and never really was on track from the get-go, reason for optimism does exist in Anaheim in the form of 22-year-old Max Comtois, Trevor Zegras (turned 20 on Saturday) and Jamie Drysdale (turns 19 on April 8).
[PRE-GAME COVERAGE BEGINS AT 5 P.M. ET - NBCSN]
WHAT: Anaheim Ducks at Minnesota Wild
WHERE: Xcel Energy Center
WHEN: Wednesday, March 24, 5 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN (^Blacked out in local markets: Minnesota)
ON THE CALL: Kenny Albert, Pierre McGuire
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Ducks-Wild stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
DUCKS
Max Comtois - Ryan Getzlaf - Rickard Rakell
Max Jones - Isac Lundeström - Jakob Silfverberg
Trevor Zegras - Adam Henrique - Troy Terry
Derek Grant - Sam Steel - Nicolas Deslauriers
Cam Fowler - Jani Hakanpaa
Josh Manson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Andy Welinski - Jamie Drysdale
Starting goalie: Ryan Miller
WILD
Kirill Kaprizov - Victor Rask - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Ryan Hartman - Kevin Fiala
Joseph Cramarossa - Joel Eriksson Ek - Jordan Greenway
Nico Sturm - Nick Bonino - Nick Bjugstad
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Carson Soucy
Ian Cole - Brad Hunt
Starting goalie: Cam Talbot