Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Minnesota Wild (9-4-3, 21 points) and the Washington Capitals (8-7-0, 16 points) hit the ice at Verizon Center for the first of two meetings against each other. The game can be live streamed here. Minnesota fans can hear all of the action by tuning into KFAN-FM 100.3, while Washington fans can do the same on WFED 1500.
Both teams enter play in seventh place in their respective conferences while Minnesota is in third place in the Central Division and ranks three points behind the division-leading Colorado Avalanche and the Capitals are second in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
These two teams lead the NHL on the man-advantage as Washington ranks No.1 with a 27.9% power play and Minnesota is second by converting 25 percent of the time.
"We face a big challenge [Thursday] against that power play," Wild coach Mike Yeo told NHL.com Wednesday. "Our power play has been very good this year too, so take it as a challenge that it's us against them."
Capitals coach Adam Oates expects a tough challenge tonight.
"They don't give up very many shots," he told NHL.com. "They're a good hockey team. They're playing very well right now. The goaltending situation, [Josh Harding has] played great, his numbers are great."
Harding is 8-2-1 this season for Minnesota with a dazzling 1.09 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage. The Capitals have turned to Braden Holtby between the pipes this season, and he's gone 6-5-0 with a 2.58 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin returned with a vengeance after missing two games to an upper-body injury, and scored two power play goals in the team's 6-2 win over the New York Islanders Tuesday to give the Caps their third straight win. Ovechkin is second on the team in points with 18 on a team-high 12 goals and six assists while Nicklas Backstrom has a team-leading 14 assists to go along with five tallies for 19 points.
Zach Parise has paved the way for the Wild, notching a team-high 14 points on eight goals and six assists while Jason Pominville has lit the lamp a team-leading 10 times and added two helpers for 12 points.
Two dynamic power plays go head to head when the puck drops on the Wild and Capitals at the Verizon Center tonight in Washington, D.C.
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