Tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the Boston Bruins (15-13-3, 33 points) and Minnesota Wild (16-12-1, 33 points) face-off for the second and final time this season live from the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota. The game can be live streamed for free here. Boston fans can hear all of the action on WBZ 1030 while Minnesota fans can do the same on KFAN 100.3.
Boston plays the middle tilt of a three-game road trip and has lost three straight matches while Minnesota opens up a four-game homestand and has dropped two of its last three contests. The Wild topped the Bruins 4-3 in Boston the last time these teams clashed on Oct. 28.
Both clubs enter tonight just outside the playoff race in their respective conferences.
The Bruins are coming off of a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators in a shootout on Tuesday that coach Claude Julien chalked up to bad luck against a good goaltender.
"I think we played a decent game tonight against a team that has been pretty good," Julien said via NHL.com. "It's pretty obvious that their goaltender has been standing tall for these guys."
Patrice Bergeron is first on the team with 21 points off of five goals and 16 assists while Carl Soderberg has five tallies and 14 helpers for 19 points and Brad Marchand has found the twine eight times and added 10 assists for 18 points.
The Wild dropped a 5-3 decision to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and were frustrated with a hooking call on Erik Haula that led to the game-winning goal.
"I'm extremely disappointed," coach Mike Yeo told NHL.com. "That time of the hockey game, in a tie game, on a one-handed hook on a dead play, pretty frustrating. It's a tie game. We have five minutes left and as far as I'm concerned we've got the momentum. We had to kill a penalty. We killed one big penalty, and then that play is the difference."
Zach Parise is the team leader with 23 points off of 11 goals and 12 assists while Jason Pominville has six markers and 14 helpers for 20 points and Thomas Vanek has lit the lamp four times and added 14 assists for 18 points.
In net, Minnesota may call a goalie up from the AHL due to their netminders being ill, but Darcy Kuemper may also start. Kuemper is 11-9-0 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage thus far this season.
Boston, meanwhile, is likely to counter with Tuukka Rask in the crease and he is 12-9-3 with a 2.52 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
It's the NHL's latest Wednesday Night Rivalry when the puck drops on the Bruins and Wild live tonight from the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.
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