Dallas Stars (20-9-6, first in the Central Division) vs. Minnesota Wild (19-12-2, third in the Central Division)
Saint Paul, Minnesota; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars visit the Minnesota Wild after Roope Hintz's two-goal game against the Nashville Predators in the Stars' 3-2 win.
Minnesota is 19-12-2 overall and 6-2-0 against the Central Division. The Wild are 7-3-0 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent.
Dallas has a 7-2-3 record in Central Division play and a 20-9-6 record overall. The Stars are fourth in the league with 125 total goals (averaging 3.6 per game).
Thursday's game is the sixth meeting between these teams this season. The Wild won 6-5 in a shootout in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kirill Kaprizov has 19 goals and 24 assists for the Wild. Mats Zuccarello has eight goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
Jason Robertson has 24 goals and 26 assists for the Stars. Hintz has seven goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 7-3-0, averaging 3.2 goals, 5.1 assists, 4.4 penalties and 10.8 penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game.
Stars: 7-2-1, averaging three goals, 4.3 assists, 2.7 penalties and 5.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Wild: Jake Middleton: out (illness), Marcus Foligno: out (lower-body).
Stars: Nick Caamano: out (back), Denis Gurianov: out (personal).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
